Doll
by Aria6
Summary: The Sixth Grail War is just starting. The Grail is still corrupt, but no one is willing to believe or accept it. Arjuna has been summoned by a child that suspiciously resembles his brother, Karna. Shirou is working to stop the War from taking place, but what methods will he deem acceptable? Conflict is inevitable.
1. Chapter 1

Arjuna answered the call of the Grail.

He could easily have refused it. The summoning was weak and unfocused, as if the summoner was not using a catalyst. The Grail was not forcing him to answer. Arjuna was being given a choice.

And so he made it. Why he made that particular choice was a mystery even to himself but it was his choice. And when the mist cleared he found himself standing in the middle of a summoning circle drawn in blood, in a dank and dirty basement, facing a ghostly white teenager with aquamarine eyes. Tousled white hair had flopped adorably over one eye and Arjuna blinked. Aside from the age and the hair, his new Master bore a shocking resemblance to his brother Karna. Arjuna wished he could believe that was a coincidence but he knew better.

"Are you my Master?" he asked and the child - was it a boy or a girl? He could hardly tell - smiled at him.

"Yes," he said before collapsing. Arjuna barely caught the child before realizing his arm was bandaged. Had he drawn the summoning circle in his own blood? It was a substantial amount! Frowning, Arjuna looked around. This - place - was utterly disgusting. In addition to being cold and damp, it was littered with trash that was further caked with filth. There was a soft rattle of claws on concrete and Arjuna realized with disgust that it was a rat.

"What kind of a Master would summon a Heroic Spirit into a place like this?" Arjuna asked, repulsed. There was a soft laugh and the child pulled away, smiling in an odd way. Arjuna hesitated, his instincts suddenly warning of danger.

"The kind of Master who belongs here," the boy breathed before focusing on him. "What is your name and class?"

"Arjuna, summoned into the class of Archer," Arjuna said, noticing as he did that no relic was present. Likely he'd been summoned because this boy was a reincarnation of Karna. The teen nodded slowly before meeting his eyes.

"There are seven people in the house. Three magi, two servants and two flesh dolls," the boy said and Arjuna blinked. Flesh dolls? Then the boy lifted his hand and Arjuna's eyes widened as the seals flared. "By the power of my Command Seal you will kill them all. Quickly yet carefully, like an assassin in the night. Now, go," the teenager said and Arjuna felt himself move like a robot, his mind cushioned with shock. What had his Master just...?

Arjuna did not want to obey his orders. His heart screamed in agony at the dishonor of it but the Command Seal compelled him remorselessly. The first to die was the cook and her helper. The helper was a young girl and to Arjuna's shock, she smiled beatifically just before she died.

The other servant was a butler and he died quite easily. The magi and the final 'flesh doll' were the most troublesome. Arjuna still managed to complete his instructions but he had to be very careful, obeying his Master's command to move like an assassin. The 'flesh doll' was a young man with waxen yellow skin and dark brown hair. The doll saw him but didn't raise a cry, just stared with empty eyes as Arjuna stabbed the magus from behind, ending his life with a dishonorable blow in the back.

"So he did it," the doll said, voice uncaring. Arjuna thought he seemed broken, even as he raised his backup weapon, a small blade, to end the boy's life. "Tell him to kill them all." Those words seemed to kindle something in the 'doll' and he smiled. Still moved by the Command Seal, Arjuna struck without mercy, painting the walls with blood.

Then the deed was done and the Command Seal finally released him. Arjuna took a deep breath before glancing around the room, truly taking in the magus' workshop.

"…" Arjuna felt an instinctive, atavistic repulsion as he gazed over the strange, fetus like things in tanks, the not dead but hardly alive things that wiggled and squirmed in various enclosures and cages. Swallowing, he began to understand what his Master meant by 'flesh doll'. Just to confirm it, Arjuna walked to the door of a large cooler and opened it. He immediately wished he hadn't and shut it again, trying to wipe the sight from his brain. "I see," he said aloud, suddenly more accepting of his Master's choice to use the Command Seal. Purging this filth had been necessary.

Then his Master walked into the room and Arjuna turned to see him giving the corpse of the magus a cold, cold smile.

"Not looking too good father," the boy said calmly and Arjuna swallowed. Father? "Arjuna, put the corpse on that examination bed, chest up. I need to get something."

"Master, I – " Arjuna stopped as his Master left the room, taking his compliance for granted. Deciding it was too small a thing to rebel over, Arjuna handled the body, grimacing at the feel of blood soaking through his gloves. What could his Master want with it?

That was answered when his Master brought in a glass jar of clear fluid and a very sharp knife.

"Alright, time to get started…" His Master said before carving into the body. Arjuna watched in shock and horror as the boy worked quickly but brutally, cutting deep into the chest cavity. "Good, it wasn't damaged. It shouldn't have been but you never know."

"Master, what are you doing?" Arjuna asked, repulsed as his Master quickly got bloody up to the elbows as he rooted through the body by hand. Aquamarine eyes were fixed on the body, not lifting towards him.

"Removing his Mage Crest." Arjuna vaguely recalled that a Mage Crest was a repository for magical knowledge, gathered for many generations. So this did make sense. "I need to have it transplanted into me. Since I'm technically a blood relative, it should work. Get me that jar." Arjuna bit back a groan before fetching the jar. "Thank you." At least his Master had some courtesy.

"Technically a blood relative?" Arjuna questioned and his Master nodded, hair flopping over his eye again.

"I take after my mother, she was albino, or so I'm told anyway," the boy said vaguely and Arjuna frowned, reminded that he didn't even know his Master's name yet. "Got it." The boy extracted something that looked like an organ. It was long, red and pulsing and Arjuna could sense a powerful magical energy centred in it. The boy dropped it in the jar, sealing the lid.

"Master, what is your name?" Arjuna asked and the teenager hesitated a moment before heaving a soft sigh.

"Six." What? "Because I'm the sixth flesh doll of my type. And yes, that's a terrible name, but it's the only one that's mine. If you want to name me something better feel free," the boy said with a wave and Arjuna grimaced to himself. It sounded like his Master had had a very unpleasant life. Vaguely, Arjuna wondered what Karna could have done to warrant such a reincarnation. "But I really don't have time to talk. I need to get the second Mage Crest."

What followed next was a stripping of another corpse, and then the removal of an intricate tattoo-like thing, embedded deep into the skin. That went into the second jar of fluid. When his Master was done, he began to issue crisp instructions.

"Please try to find a backpack or some other suitable bag and put together a travelling kit. Check in the kitchen for food and try to find clothing, whatever you think would be suitable. I'm going to have a shower," the boy – Arjuna had trouble thinking of him as Six – said before glancing over himself. Arjuna followed his gaze to the blood on his hands and arms.

"Yes Master," Arjuna said, wondering if he should be following so blindly. Yet, every command his Master had given so far had been completely logical, except for the first. Frowning to himself, Arjuna began searching for something to carry the supplies. He soon found a fabric bag and went to the kitchen. Ignoring the corpses and congealing blood, he looked for food that was easily portable and could be eaten raw. Tins of fish and meat and beans, meal replacement bars and a bag of trail mix went into the bag. Arjuna also found some water bottles and took several. Hmm, no materials to start a fire but hopefully they wouldn't need that. A can opener. Was there anything else? No, this would do. He also added extra clothing to the bag, as his Master had instructed.

He was just finishing when his Master appeared in the doorway, freshly washed. He was carrying the jars in a box and after a quick look at the bag, his Master hefted it over one shoulder.

"Master, I can carry that," Arjuna said with a frown. The boy shook his head.

"No, you need to dematerialize and keep watch over me," he said and Arjuna hesitated before nodding. "Follow me." The teenager's expression was cold and remote. Arjuna obediently dematerialized, trailing behind his Master like a spectral cloud. "Arjuna, you see the building down the road, two houses over? There's a man on the roof," the child said quietly and Arjuna easily spotted the man. With his Archer's eyesight he could see the man lifting binoculars. "Kill him."

 _Master, despite what you have commanded me to do, I am not an assassin,_ Arjuna said firmly. There was a soft sigh from the boy, followed by a very dry chuckle.

"But a Servant exists to protect their Master. Go, look at him, evaluate his level of threat. Then decide for yourself," the teenager said and Arjuna found that instruction to be far more palatable. Slipping easily away, Arjuna situated himself several rooftops behind the man before materializing. Then he looked over his prey.

Arjuna's lips tightened as he took in the high-powered rifle lying on the roof beside the stranger. Lifting his bow, he sighted just as the man reached for the rifle. Gandiva's arrow flew true, hitting the man square in the back. Arjuna spared no more attention for him, dematerializing and returning to his Master.

 _It is done,_ Arjuna said simply and his Master nodded.

His Master took them down into a subway system, beneath the ground. He boarded a train and sat quietly, box between his feet and bag on the seat next to him. Fortunately the train was not crowded and there was no one to object. After perhaps three stops, the boy picked up his box and exited the train. Arjuna followed behind silently, wondering where they were going.

It turned out they were going to a dirty old building in the industrial part of town. Arjuna watched over his Master carefully and once, was forced to pick off a few men hiding in an alleyway with intent to ambush. His Master noticed.

"Thank you," he murmured softly and Arjuna sent a mental acknowledgement, similar to a nod. He was pleased, though, to have the boy acknowledge his contribution. When they reached the building, his Master kicked on the door until it opened. A small, wizened old woman let them in. Behind her, two other women quickly gathered, a motherly woman with pale skin and long blonde hair, and a teenager, hardly more than a child, with very dark skin and kinky black hair.

"White, you came back. Where's your Servant?" The teenager said with a sneer and Arjuna materialized without a word. All three of the women looked taken aback as his Master smirked, setting down the box.

"Everything went as planned. Your fee is here," the boy said and lifted out one of the jars, the one with the tattoo. The motherly woman took it, holding it so the elderly woman could examine it. Arjuna frowned, suddenly reminded of stories he knew… the three witches. Maiden, Mother and Crone?

"Yes, it is perfect," the crone muttered before grinning. Arjuna felt a bit repulsed as he saw most of her teeth were missing and the few she had were disgustingly yellowed. "And the other one?" His Master lifted the second jar and the crone examined the organ within before grunting. "Ah, not an easy transplant, you were right. Well, it shant get any fresher. Mary, put that one away." The blonde woman nodded before hurrying off with her jar. "Tawny, get the tools ready. You may watch, spirit, but do not interfere. This will be a bloody business." …What?

"Master, what is going on?" Arjuna asked, voice chilly. His Master glanced at him and Arjuna was struck by the weariness in those aquamarine eyes.

"They're going to transplant my father's Mage Crest into my body. By opening me up and implanting it," he said and Arjuna's breath caught at the thought, his mind flashing back to the Crest removal. They would have to do that in reverse? "They'll put me up for three days after the operation, for recovery. Then we have to get out of here. Can you watch over me?" His Master's eyes flickered to the witches before moving back to him. "I don't trust them."

"Tch, that's rude boy," the crone said as she started off towards the back of the building. His Master followed, bag over his shoulder.

"We both know you don't care granny," the boy said and the crone wheezed a chuckle. Arjuna glanced around as they walked, his lips tightening at the concrete and the water stains on the walls. Did everyone here live in squalor? "Please tell me everything is sterile."

"No, we're just going to make sure you get infected and die. Of course it's sterile you moron!" The dark girl snarled.

"Given the rest of the surroundings, I would not take that for granted," Arjuna said coldly. "Do you ever clean?" There was nothing they could do about the water, perhaps, but they could take care of the dust. And the mouse droppings.

"Oh fuck you! I'm busy, can I leave gran?" the dark girl said sullenly and she nodded, waving the girl away. As they were talking, his Master was disrobing. Arjuna's attention was caught as he saw the golden markings on dead white skin. For an insane moment, Arjuna thought it was Karna's golden armor. Then he saw it was actually very unusual tattoos. Or perhaps body paint? It wasn't actual metal, that much he could tell. Arjuna frowned, though, as his Master finished stripping and sat on the edge of the table.

"You do intend to use anesthetic?" He asked and the old woman chuckled hoarsely before bringing out a cigarette? His Master took it and the crone pulled out a lighter, flicking the small piece of machinery several times to get a flame.

"The only anesthetic they have around here is pot. Fortunately I have a high pain tolerance," his Master said calmly as she lit his cigarette. This his Master began smoking it and Arjuna frowned. His knowledge of the modern era told him this form of pain relief would be inadequate at best, utterly ineffective at worst.

Still, his Master concentrated on the cigarette, finishing the whole thing before laying down for the operation to begin. He was given a leather strap to bite down on and unfortunately for Arjuna, he had to watch what followed. Fortunately, it was rather quick. As soon as the false organ was introduced into the child's body the crone began to mumble, something Arjuna quickly identified as a mystic chant. Then the organ slithered like a living thing, vanishing deep into the boy's body. The old woman continued to mumble, pressing her gloved hands against the bloody slit in the boy's abdomen. Something seemed to satisfy her and then she began sewing him up. His Master's eyes were tightly closed, the leather clenched hard between his teeth.

"Good, already I can feel it integrating. When the three days are up you will have a Mage Crest, boy," the old woman said as she finished with the sewing and began bandaging. The teen spat out the piece of leather before laying there, gasping. "You want another?"

"Please," he said weakly and the old woman gave him another cigarette. He smoked it while she continued the bandaging. Arjuna watched with a frown.

"Servant, you carry him," the crone said as she tied the final bandage and shuffled off. Arjuna accepted the order – the old woman couldn't carry his Master and the boy shouldn't be walking – gently picking up the teen, bridal style.

The room he carried the boy to was plain but mostly clean, a simple bed and nothing else. The crone pulled down the covers and Arjuna settled his Master onto the bed. The boy quietly thanked them both and closed his eyes. Arjuna glanced around and frowned.

"Might I have a chair?" he politely asked the old woman. He would like to speak to his Master while he recovered. She nodded.

"I'll go get you one," she said before shuffling out. Arjuna waited patiently and she came back with a basic wooden chair. Accepting it with quiet thanks, Arjuna settled in beside his Master. Aquamarine eyes opened, looking at him tiredly.

"Sorry about using a Command Seal like that. I had no time to explain, though, and knew nothing about you. If you were an Assassin class I might have taken the chance but…" he shrugged slightly and Arjuna nodded.

"I understand. But now that we have leisure, can you explain the situation to me from the beginning?" Arjuna suggested. Aquamarine eyes closed for a moment before the boy heaved a small sigh.

"Okay. My family is the Lupei clan. We're a very old family, tracing our roots back to Romania. However, we are not considered a clan of note. Our Origin is always Flesh, without exception." Arjuna blinked. Flesh? "We tend to modify ourselves and our descendants, as well as work with flesh in general. We excel in the creation of familiars and the power of our Mage Crest is mostly self-modification." The boy paused before smiling grimly. "That's part of why I needed you to kill them so quickly… father might have been getting old, but this Mage Crest is ideally suited for combat. If he'd had any time to get it off, you likely would have torn the house apart trying to kill him."

"However, I am not exactly part of the clan. I'm considered a flesh doll, a kind of homunculus," the boy continued and Arjuna frowned, watching him closely. "I'm an attempt to create an assassin homunculus, to serve as a bodyguard in the Holy Grail war. The first five were created from body parts but the strain of these – " the boy gestured to the tattoos on his body. "Destroyed them. Frustrated, my father resorted to cruder but more reliable methods. He kidnapped a prostitute, impregnated her and forced her to give birth to me." Arjuna swallowed at his matter of fact tone. "He modified me in the womb and outside the womb, so I grew to this age in just three years."

"Wait, you are three years old?" Arjuna asked, shaken. The boy nodded calmly.

"Yes, although father had the memories of a trained assassin implanted into me before having me trained. So I feel much older," his Master said, pushing back that flopping bang. It flopped over his eye again and the boy huffed in annoyance. "Stupid hair… I'm still growing, which could be unfortunate. I'm hoping to use the Mage Crest to make sure I don't lose coordination during the War."

"So you will reach adulthood?" Arjuna asked and the boy nodded, expression remote. "What will this do to your lifespan?" His Master grimaced.

"You go right for the jugular, don't you…? And it is drastically shortened. I'll live ten years if I'm lucky," the boy said and Arjuna swallowed at the thought. "The Mage Crest might let me stretch it out but too much damage has been done. I'm not going to have a normal lifespan unless I win the Holy Grail."

"I see," Arjuna said slowly before nodding. "A worthy wish." A selfish wish, yes, but most certainly a worthy one. Who would not want to live a normal length of time? Although. "Do you plan to wish for immortality?" The boy hesitated, catching his bottom lip in his teeth and chewing on it a bit.

"I don't know… immortality might give me too long to regret. A normal life is all I really need. But I'll think about it," he said and Arjuna nodded. "What do you want from the Grail?" Arjuna hesitated before shaking his head.

"Nothing," he answered, lying easily. He did not feel comfortable telling his Master his wish yet. How could the boy understand? His Master frowned at him, aquamarine eyes puzzled. "I am not sure why I answered the summons of the Grail. Although you bear an odd resemblance to someone I knew in life." Very odd. The golden marks on his body… they were very different, forming patterns that appeared to be mystical runes. Despite being so different, though, they were powerfully reminiscent of Karna.

"Huh. You know, I don't know anything about you. I've never heard of a hero named Arjuna," the boy said before smiling wryly. "Not that that means anything, since I'm just an ignorant flesh doll. But can you tell me about yourself?" …That would involve a lot of talking but it seemed they had several days here. Arjuna decided he did not mind.

"Very well. I am from a land known as India," Arjuna began and had to stop as his Master bit his lower lip, mildly ashamed.

"I'm… sorry… where is that?" the boy asked and Arjuna blinked before realizing this was going to take even longer than he'd thought. Patiently, he began to explain. When his Master had roughly grasped the position of India in the world, he went back to his own history. As he now expected, he had to stop many times to explain basic concepts. Oddly enough, Arjuna enjoyed it. It reminded him of teaching his own sons. "You sound pretty powerful. That's good, we're going to need it," the boy sounded relieved and Arjuna nodded.

"Forgive me, Master, but we can discuss it more later. You should rest," Arjuna said gently, noticing the way the child's eyelids kept drooping. The boy nodded.

"Yes… I want to know more but I'm getting so tired…" he slurred the last few words before his eyes closed. Arjuna dematerialized, watching over the boy while keeping his mana drain to a minimum. As he did, he thought about what he should call the child.

Six was no kind of a name. Arjuna would have to think of something better for him.


	2. Chapter 2

Emiya Shirou frowned as he looked over the reports in front of him.

"Why are people so stupid," he muttered to himself. Ten years. It had been ten years since the last Holy Grail war. Since the Magus Association had refused to believe the Grail was corrupted and refused to dismantle the Greater Grail, the war was starting again. Strangely, the stories of corruption that had filtered out had seemed to rekindle interest in the cup. Three different families were currently showing interest in joining the festivities.

"Because people have always been stupid. You know that, Emiya-kun," Rin said carelessly and Shirou lifted his head to smile at her. She was lounging on the sofa, wearing a black turtleneck and tight blue jeans.

Tohsaka Rin was as beautiful as she was deadly. Ten years had added maturity to her already remarkable beauty. After leaving the Clock Tower they had travelled the world together, selling their services, not just for money, but for justice. Along the way Rin had honed her mystical art into a lethal killing dance. Shirou knew that wasn't the best thing for her, really, but he couldn't regret any moment of it.

Then his cell phone buzzed and Shirou picked it up.

 _The assassin homunculus is leaving the house, alone,_ Shirou's friend and associate, a man named Daniel, said. Shirou nodded.

"Take him out." If the assassin homunculus was stupid enough to leave from the front door they weren't going to turn down the opportunity. The Lupei clan was the hardest of hard targets and a lot of it had to do with the little monster they'd spawned. How they had managed to create something so intrinsically deadly mystified Shirou – the Lupei weren't really noted for making the best homunculi, usually settling for mere dolls – but that thing was brutal.

 _Sure thing._ The laconic reply came back and Shirou smiled as he went back to the reports, studying the ones on the Yggdmillenials. They were basically an overarching group and the individual members were rather independent, so while the main organization was deciding to sit it out, it looked likely some of the younger set might become involved in the Grail War. Shirou had several contacts there – not spies, closer to friends – and they'd given him the names of the ones they thought were likeliest to get involved.

"This one is troublesome," Shirou muttered as he looked over one particular dossier. _Belle Laveau Yggdmillenial._ The middle name wasn't hers, she'd taken it from a noted voodoo practitioner. Belle was actually a first-generation magus who favored a bastardized form of African magic. The Clock Tower would look down on that, but Shirou knew better. That kind of magic tended to operate on a 'whatever works' basis and could be brutally effective. A wintery smile crossed his lips as he thought about it. The Clock Tower's reach did not extend to Africa and people there still believed in magic, because they knew damned well it was real. The Clock Tower had successfully portrayed them to the rest of the world as superstitious fools, though.

Shaking away the thought, Shirou looked hard at the dossier again. He was reluctant to assassinate Belle before it was even known if she intended to join the Holy Grail war. Apparently she was completely mum on the subject, which struck his contact as suspicious. Still… Shirou shook his head and set the dossier aside. _Not yet._ Of course, Rin noticed what he was doing.

"She's not worth your compassion, Shirou. The kind of magic she uses almost guarantees human sacrifices," Rin said and Shirou grimaced. He knew that but…

"It's possible she's only using animals, Rin. Leaving that aside, she's not the best target anyway. We should go after some of the confirmed players like the Lupei." And they were a hard target. Rin suddenly frowned, sitting up from where she'd been lounging on the sofa.

"Shirou. Shouldn't Daniel have called back by now?" Rin said and Shirou paused. He should have. A simple sniping from a high-powered rifle, it should have gone off without a hitch. The little homunculus wasn't a magus, just a tool of murder. Picking up his phone, Shirou pulled the number out of his contact list. No answer. Shirou frowned and fired off a quick text. "Give him five minutes." Maybe something had come up.

Five minutes seemed like an eternity.

"Shit," Shirou said before pocketing his cell phone. Rin was already standing, a frown on her face. "Let's go." Something had gone wrong, Shirou was absolutely sure of it.

Leaving their base of operations, a small boarding house, Shirou weaved his motorcycle through London's traffic, Rin clinging to his back. Shirou pushed his speed well past the legal, Rin assisting him with a few enchantments to make sure they weren't stopped. It was still a solid half-hour before they arrived close enough to the Lupei's to check on their sniper.

When they found him, they both knew there was nothing they could do.

"Daniel…" Shirou felt a deep pain in his heart as he looked at the body. "God damnit." Why had he given that order? If he hadn't… and Daniel had a wife. What was he going to tell her? Taking a deep breath, Shirou put that concern aside for a moment as he bent over the body. Then he frowned. This was a strange wound, almost like a thin dagger? Or an arrow? But if it was an arrow, it should still have been lodged in the wound.

"Shirou, the bounded field on the Lupei residence is gone," Rin said and Shirou blinked, lifting his head to gaze at the two-story building that housed the Lupei's. "I think they've moved."

"Shit," Shirou muttered. That would explain why the homunculus was going out the front door. "Let's check it out but be on guard for traps." They were old hands at this, Shirou wasn't worried.

Rin and Shirou broke into the Lupei residence with the aplomb of seasoned burglars. However, their stealth proved to be unnecessary.

"My god, what happened here?" Shirou felt stunned as he looked over the blood splatters. Rin was kneeling beside the body, an older man, and Shirou bent over it with her. The wounds were not the same as the ones on Daniel's body. This seemed to have been inflicted with a shorter, thicker blade, close to a short sword. Rin moved to her feet.

"Let's check the rest of the house," she said and Shirou nodded. They moved through the Lupei residence without resistance and soon found all the other bodies. "All killed the same way," Rin said and Shirou nodded, frowning. "But what could have bypassed the wards so easily?"

"The homunculus…" Even as he said that, though, Shirou knew it was wrong. The Lupei homunculus couldn't possibly have killed his creators, it had to be against his programming. Although. "Could someone else have gained control over it and made it do this?" That might make sense. Rin looked pensive.

"It could be. That would be like slipping a bomb in under the Lupei's noses. But we haven't checked the basement yet," Rin said and Shirou nodded. They needed to thoroughly investigate the home. As they walked through the house again, though, Shirou noticed something unsettling.

"Rin, it looks like someone used the fireplace very recently." Shirou paused and hovered a hand over the coals. "They're still hot." And there was a lot of ashes. Shirou grimaced as he looked at them. Something important had gone in here, he was absolutely certain of it. Rin sighed softly.

"There's nothing we can do about that. The basement?" she reminded him and Shirou nodded. They went to the basement door and walked downstairs.

As soon as they did, they both saw the same thing. An full summoning circle, drawn in blood and still thrumming with power.

"Shit!" Shirou's perspective of the situation suddenly changed. "Rin, the homunculus. Do you think…?" That thing had been created as a tool of murder. Could it have completed a summoning? Rin examined the circle for a long moment before nodding.

"This is real and it's been used. Yes, the homunculus has summoned a Servant." Shirou swallowed at the thought. "He must have Mage Circuits. I don't understand though. That shouldn't be possible for a flesh doll and the Lupei's can't make homunculi like the Einzberns." Rin was thinking aloud. "Unless they used a fetus? That's very old style and a bit time consuming, but very reliable." Shirou felt another chill.

"If they did that, they likely used their own bloodlines," Shirou said and Rin looked at him with a frown. "Did the homunculus take the Lupei Mage Crest for itself?" The Mage Crests had been taken, the condition of the bodies made that obvious. It was no surprise though, they were worth literally millions in ransom to the remaining family. "Shit Rin, that thing has Mage Circuits, a Servant and now a Crest, along with whatever else the Lupei's did with it. And it burnt all the records about itself." Shirou didn't know that but it was an extremely good guess. "It's a menace." They already knew the homunculus was an able assassin with skills equivalent to an Executor.

"Yes, we need to have it taken care of first thing," Rin said decisively and Shirou nodded, utterly resolved. "We need to get everyone we have onto locating it."

"Right." Although Shirou didn't think it would be easy. The homunculus had most likely covered its tracks well. Ideally, the would find it and eliminate it before it reached Fuyuki. But if not, they would kill it there.

The Holy Grail War had to be stopped.

* * *

 _First mission. Easy missions. Killing humans. Heretics that cannot be allowed to live, but nothing too difficult. Early missions._

 ** _These are not my memories._**

 _Harder missions. The feel of a rifle, the comforting weight. Not all the enemies are human now. Black keys work well on vampires but too difficult to use. A holy weapon, a short sword, a gift from his father. Ending unholy lives._

 ** _I do not want this._**

 _Endless missions, lifetime of experience, embedding itself in muscle memory. Adapting to a smaller body. Flesh and bone, bone and blood._

 ** _Stop it. Stop it stop it stop it!_**

 _Test after test after test. Running through obstacles courses. Fighting against an old man, so old yet still so strong. The man whose memories were running through his mind and imprinting on his soul._

 ** _I hate you. I hate you._**

 _But the man is kind to him, in his way. He is just getting paid. Paid to share the wealth of knowledge his mind holds. He's an old man, his pension isn't enough. Hate shifts to other targets. The ones who paid for this._

 ** _I hate you. I hate you._**

 _They are not kind. Training hurts. Punishments, tortures. He is a tool, not a person. Homunculus. Forced to grow, forced to fight, forced to learn. Mage Circuits forced open until they burn. Gold imprinted into his body, burning more as it melds with the Circuits. It feels like his bones are melting. Excruciating._

 ** _I hate you. I hate you._**

 ** _Hate._**

 ** _Hate._**

 ** _I HaTE YoU!_**

* * *

Arjuna awoke from his reverie with a start, hate still burning in his mind like a cancer. It fizzled out as it found no target and Arjuna blinked.

 _Master?_ Seeking for a moment told him the boy was still asleep. Arjuna materialized beside him, looking at his Master in concern. He was shifting restlessly, like he was in the grip of a fever dream and Arjuna could feel the burning hatred still radiating from him. Frowning, he bent down and gently gripped the child's shoulder.

The reaction was sudden and violent. Arjuna's eyes went wide as his wrist was grasped with bone breaking strength and his Master surged up, aquamarine eyes wide and empty. If he'd been a normal human, Arjuna would certainly have broken a wrist and likely ended with a dislocated shoulder, as the boy tried to yank his arm behind him. But Arjuna was a Servant and despite his little Master's abnormal strength, he was able to twist free. Arjuna grasped thin shoulders and shook the boy violently.

"Master!" he said sharply and aquamarine eyes blinked, losing that frightening blankness.

"Arjuna…?" the boy said groggily before his eyes sharpened. Then he suddenly hissed, bending over, a hand on his belly. "The Crest… I used it…" his Master muttered and Arjuna's lips tightened. He knew very little of magecraft but he could see how much pain his Master was in. He gently put an arm around the boy and guided him back to the bed. "I attacked you. I'm sorry," his Master said thickly.

"It is my fault for waking you too abruptly," Arjuna said as soothingly as he could manage. It was something of a lie, what he had done had been a normal action. Yet, the boy's reaction had been involuntary, he could see that. "How should I waken you in the future?" he asked and aquamarine eyes flickered up to him. Arjuna was struck again by the weariness in them.

"…Yell in my ear or use your mental connection. I react badly to sudden, unexpected touches," he said and Arjuna grimaced internally. He could guess why.

"I am sorry. I should have thought," Arjuna said and the boy shook his head before giving him a wan smile.

"Not your fault. Why did you wake me?" the child asked and Arjuna hesitated, unsure how to answer. Then his Master frowned, aquamarine eyes fixing on his face. "Wait, were you seeing my dream?"

"I…" How to answer that? "Yes, Master, I am afraid I was," Arjuna admitted and the child looked stricken for a moment before shaking his head.

"To make me what I am in two years – that's how long it took – it was a harsh training," the boy muttered and Arjuna certainly believed it. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. I'm awake now. Is there anything to drink?"

"I will get you something." His Master shouldn't be moving more, he'd already overstrained himself. The Mage Crest was still integrating, he should not be using it. Arjuna went to the kitchen and poured his Master a cup of water. As he carried it back, he wondered. What should he call the boy? If his Master was serious about giving him permission to name him, Arjuna wanted to think of the best possible name. Karna was obvious but unpalatable. What else would be suitable?

When he got back to the room, Arjuna paused for a moment in the doorway. His young Master was lying in the bed, his eyes closed and he looked terribly young and frail. The weakness was an illusion, Arjuna knew that, but it still tugged on his heart.

"Master, I have your water," Arjuna said with a soft smile. The child opened his eyes and smiled back, before sitting up and taking the glass. As he did the blanket fell down, revealing white skin, golden runes and heavy bandages. "How are you feeling?" Arjuna asked as his Master drank.

"I've been worse," he said, wiping his lips with his hand before setting the glass on the nightstand. "Can you tell me more about your history now?" His Master looked up, white hair flopping over one eye and Arjuna couldn't help but smile. He was so much like a small child begging for a story.

"Certainly. Let me tell you about how I first met my greatest rival," Arjuna said easily, ignoring the faint pang he felt as he thought about Karna. Even if his Master was a reincarnation, it didn't matter. So instead of dwelling on it, he began telling the child about the archery competition and his first – very poor – introduction to his 'brother'. His young Master listened intently, aquamarine eyes wide and interested. Arjuna could not help but feel like he had a son again.

He knew it was mostly an illusion but it was still a good feeling.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: In case anyone's wondering about Shirou's behavior, he hasn't made a contract with the World yet but in every other way, he's on the path to becoming Archer. That might eventually change.

* * *

Arjuna watched, with a bit of worry, as his Master ran through a series of exercises with the two younger witches watching.

For a normal person, this would be ridiculously soon to be up and active after a major surgery. The Mage Crest his Master had taken, however, was a powerful healing factor. His Master had gone into more detail after the implantation. The Lupei Mage Crest was old and potent. The simplest thing engraven onto it was structural analysis, but pertaining only to Flesh. The bearer of the Crest could analyze anything of Flesh, mapping the structure completely. From there, the Crest allowed for reinforcement, healing and self-modification. Arjuna knew his Master intended to use that on himself, to enhance his combat capabilities.

However, it did not stop there. The Mage Crest of the Lupei clan could act on any Flesh, including those outside the bearer. Despite not being a healer or a formally trained magus, Arjuna's young Master would now be capable of incredible feats of healing. He could also create flesh dolls and familiars, albeit very basic ones.

"Do you think I should?" His Master asked the mother and Arjuna came back to reality, realizing he'd missed something. The mother frowned slightly before cautioning his Master.

"Just a small one. Hold it in your hand." Eh? Arjuna watched, his eyes widening as his Master held out a hand. The golden marks on his body seemed to shine, glowing with a light that reminded him unsettlingly of Karna. That resemblance was enhanced as a ball of flame appeared in his Master's hand. The boy held it for a moment before releasing it.

"Easy. The Mage Crest is integrating very well," he said, pleased. Arjuna held his tongue but he was itching to ask the purpose of the tattoos. They were related to fire? "I think that's enough for now. Tawny, can I borrow your tablet?"

"What? No!" She exclaimed and Arjuna frowned as his Master tensed. The mother cut into the budding argument.

"You can borrow my laptop. I understand, you need it," she said calmly and his Master relaxed a bit. "Be careful."

"Of course," he said and Arjuna wondered what they meant. The mother took his Master to another room and soon he was sitting in front of the laptop, typing rapidly.

"Master, what are you doing?" Arjuna asked curiously and the typing slowed for a moment as his Master looked up, hair flopping over his eye. His Master huffed at it, trying to blow it out of the way.

"Stupid hair… I'm booking our plane tickets to Japan with a stolen credit card," his Master said with amusement and Arjuna blinked. "I have a list. If this one doesn't work, I'll try another."

"I… see." That was interesting but Arjuna had other concerns. "Master, those golden marks you have. What are they and what do they do?" He needed to know more about his Master. The child frowned, looking at the marks on his body for a moment.

"Mystic runes, they harness the power of my Element and make it tangible. My Origin is Flesh and my Element is Fire," his Master said briefly and Arjuna considered that for a moment.

"How powerful is it?" he asked quietly, unable to avoid comparing his Master to Karna. It was disturbingly similar. The boy hesitated a moment before heaving a small sigh.

"Powerful enough that if I opened all my Mage Circuits and focused fully through the tattoos, I could probably destroy a small village," the boy said quietly, reaching up to rub the marks on his skin. "I can manipulate fire with extreme precision, as well. It's not a spell, it's more like breathing, so it's very powerful." His feelings about the markings did not seem positive, though, and Arjuna remembered the dream. _It feels like my bones are melting._ Did they still cause his Master pain?

"I understand," Arjuna said and his Master nodded, returning to his laptop. Arjuna allowed himself to dematerialize, just watching over the boy. He wasn't paying much attention, just hearing a few hums of irritation and then approval. Then the typing stopped and Arjuna saw that his Master was reading something.

 _Master, what are you doing?_ Arjuna asked curiously, looking over his shoulder. Wikipedia?

 _Reading the cliff notes of your life. I want to see how much they got wrong,_ his Master answered and Arjuna blinked before chuckling softly.

 _I see._ Undoubtedly, the story was incorrect in many aspects. Myths became twisted and torn with the passage of time and the thought did not bother him. Arjuna didn't bother to read it himself, just waiting patiently as his Master scrolled through the entry. He did notice, though, as a subtle tension entered the child's body.

"This is wrong. This is really, really wrong," the teen muttered and Arjuna frowned to himself. "It's… you… but it's not. I don't understand."

 _What?_ Arjuna asked, baffled, as the boy scrolled further down.

"Arjuna, it's – why don't you take a look?" he suggested and Arjuna materialized, feeling baffled. His Master left his seat and Arjuna obediently sat down, perusing the Wikipedia entry. It felt very odd, reading a highly-abridged version of his own life.

It quickly became more than odd though. Arjuna noticed the discrepancy with the archery tournament. There was no mention of Karna, only Duryodhana. That was only the start and Arjuna felt a heavy weight in the pit of his stomach as he continued to read.

"Twisted, it's all twisted," Arjuna muttered, feeling his unease deepening almost to dread. "Where is he?" Karna wasn't here. Not a single mention of him was made in the entry. The entire Kurukshetra war was mentioned in very abbreviated form, but not once was Karna's name or deeds entered. Several other men seemed to take his place and all died tragically, unable to truly fulfill his role. Karna was not there. "How can this be?" Arjuna could hardly define how he felt. Terrible as it was, the rivalry between himself and Karna had been a defining force in his life. Why did it seem so wrong to read a history that no longer contained him?

All the events were wrong, too. Arjuna could see key places of his life that had not played out the way he remembered or not happened at all. And somehow, as he read the story, he felt adrift. Somehow, the Arjuna he was reading about did not seem… focused. Arjuna realized as he thought that that he was not reading it from the sparse words in front of him. No he was… remembering…

Pushing himself away from the laptop Arjuna moved away, unaware of his Master's concerned gaze on him. As he walked, a life without his hated brother came to him. It was… not as idyllic as he would have imagined. In fact, it had felt fundamentally wrong, as if all his life he was looking for someone who wasn't there. Particularly in the war, his arrows had been slower than they should have been. Krishna had been… concerned for him…

"How could Karna not have existed? What happened to him?" Arjuna breathed. The baby sent down the river, had no one found him? Had he died there? Or had he just not been born at all?

"Arjuna? I just found him," his Master said, his voice subdued and Arjuna turned to him. "It's right near the end though… here…" Near the end? Arjuna took the laptop, feeling numb, and read the short paragraphs.

 _On her deathbed, Kunti confessed to her sons that they had once had an older brother. The son of Surya, she gave birth to him unwed and in her panic and confusion, gave him to a woman she trusted, who promised to see the child placed safely with a good family. But the woman was not who she thought, but instead a cunning Rakshasa who had eaten the woman she trusted and thus taken her appearance. Kunti only realized the truth when the half-eaten body was found. The child was never seen or heard from again._

 _When the Pandava brothers heard this they were all bereft. Arjuna vowed to find the Rakshasa and slay him._

"I remember…" Arjuna whispered as strange memories, not his own yet also his own, played through his mind. Searching for clues about the Rakshasa, consulting oracles. A long trip, far from home, as he hunted the creature down. Finally finding it and realizing, beyond question, that his older brother was dead. The Rakshasa taunting him with how much power he'd absorbed from that little infant, how he'd stolen the potential, the power of the life that should have been lived. With dual memories of a life without Karna and a life with Karna, Arjuna understood that much better now. "I had to use everything I had." The battle with the Rakshasa had been a twisted echo of his battle with Karna. Arjuna had barely survived and if not for Krishna's help, he might not have. But in the end he'd killed the Rakshasa and freed his brother's soul. The victory had left Arjuna with a beautiful feeling of peace.

"Arjuna?" A warm hand went around his wrist and Arjuna blinked, recalled from his reverie, looking down into a concerned, white face. Aquamarine eyes looked like beautiful gems as the teen looked up at him in concern. "Are you alright?"

"I… am fine." Arjuna said, reaching up to rub his forehead. As he did, the history he'd just 'remembered' began to recede. "I understand now," he murmured, finding mental balance. This was a timeline, a universe where Karna had been written out, his story ending immediately. It had left behind a void, a weight of destiny unfulfilled. What did that mean for his Master? Arjuna wasn't sure but he was more convinced than ever that he was a reincarnation.

"I don't. Why is it different?" his Master asked bluntly and Arjuna blinked.

"Ah…" That was troublesome. Arjuna didn't really know much about how the multiverse worked. "There are many timelines. This is one where my legend went differently. I can remember it, but the memories are not strong within me." That indicated to Arjuna that this particular timeline was very unusual, an aberration. "It is nothing to worry about. I am still me." As Arjuna said that, he felt centred again, his memories falling back into place. That oddly aimless feeling vanished, replaced with his usual certainty. "You have booked the plane tickets? What shall we use for passports?" The knowledge the Grail gave him said those were important.

"I'm in the process of arranging them. I need to change my own appearance, though. Watch…" His Master closed his eyes and Arjuna stared as his skin darkened. Very soon it was a shade identical to his own and his Master opened his eyes. Arjuna was absolutely speechless as his mind suddenly flashed to another teenage boy. With dark skin, his Master bore a striking resemblance. "Let me darken my hair too – huh?" Arjuna grasped his wrist.

"No, leave your hair and eyes as they are," Arjuna said firmly. This was perfect. "And I know your name. You are Vrishakethu." The resemblance was uncanny, even stronger than his Master's resemblance to Karna. And Arjuna had loved that boy, the last survivor of his brother's family. The thought made him swallow, remembering the grief he'd felt admitting to the child that he'd made Vrishakethu an orphan. That they'd come to love each other despite that had been a small miracle.

"Vrisha… kethu," his Master stumbled and had to repeat the name several times before getting it right. "What does it mean?" he asked, bright eyed and almost begging for another story. Arjuna smiled sadly before obliging.

"It is the name of my brother's youngest child. After Karna died, his wife committed suicide on his pyre, so the boy was left alone," Arjuna said quietly, remembering the boy so clearly. "I took him under my wing and helped raise him. I cared for him very much." It had seemed like the only thing he could do, for the brother he'd never really known. "He grew into a wonderful man." Arjuna didn't want to think of how his nephew had died, fighting by his side against another of his sons. Shaking away the memories, he smiled at his Master. "It is a fitting name for you."

"It has a nice sound. Vrishakethu," his Master murmured and Arjuna felt lighter just hearing the name. "It's going to be hard for people to say though, especially in Japan." …That was unfortunate but true. "What's a good nickname? Keth? Ved? I don't think Vrish sounds very good."

"Mmm… Vraj will do," Arjuna said after a moment's thought. Keth did not sound very good either, to his ears and his Master was right that they would need something more modern. "I believe that is a name currently in use." Which Vrishakethu was not, from what his modern knowledge told him. Odd that his own name was still used.

"Okay, but I'll put Vrishakethu on the passport," his young Master said with a smile. Arjuna smiled, appreciating that. "What should I use for a last name?"

"Khatri," Arjuna responded instantly. Vrishakethu looked curious so he explained. "It is a synonym for kshatriya, which is my caste. It is also a fairly common name at this time." Vrishakethu nodded.

"Arjuna Khatri and Vrishakethu Khatri. I'll be your son, it's perfect." It was absolutely perfect and Arjuna felt warmed by the thought. "I'll get on that right away, I have contacts. And I'll keep my skin like this but my hair and eyes the same." Also perfect. Arjuna chuckled before ruffling the teen's hair, making it flop over his eye again. "Hey!" Vrishakethu slapped his hand away, but lightly. "I'm glad we're getting along," he said quietly and Arjuna nodded.

"I am as well." His time here was limited, but Arjuna was pleased to feel a bond with his Master. The sudden resemblance to someone dear to him made it much easier.

Together, he was sure they would go far.

* * *

A mere two days later, they were boarding a plane.

Arjuna handled everything as his Master trailed along. He was dressed neatly in a modern suit, while Vrishakethu was wearing typical teenage garb, blue jeans and a t-shirt along with a red bandanna. The objective of the bandanna was to keep his hair out of his eyes, yet it kept failing, letting a stray lock fall over one eye. Arjuna thought it was utterly adorable and from some of the smiles older women gave to his Master, they thought the same.

The plane flight was boring and predictable, which suited them both just fine. Arjuna experienced the entertainment of the in-flight movie, an animated movie named Frozen. It was quite engrossing and Arjuna was soon caught up in the story. Vrishakethu slept through it, taking the opportunity to catch up on his rest.

After the long flight they finally arrived in Japan. They checked into a business hotel, which quickly proved to be a problem when they discovered the beds were quite short. Arjuna was tall for any era and extremely tall by Japanese standards.

"Is it going to be okay? I booked what I could afford…" Vrishakethu was chewing on his lower lip as he took in the problem. Arjuna shook his head with a smile.

"I do not need to sleep, Master. I will guard over you while you sleep," Arjuna reassured him and his Master looked unconvinced. "Truly, it is not a difficulty. And these beds will fit you perfectly." They were exactly the right length for his 'son'. Vrishakethu hesitated before nodding.

"Alright. Now we need to figure out how to reach Fuyuki," his Master said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I hate using public transit but there's no choice, I don't know how to drive and you don't either, right?"

"No, I have no Riding skill," Arjuna admitted and his Master examined his new tablet. He'd purchased it before leaving London, with stolen funds. Arjuna did not like the level of larceny Vrishakethu was committing, but he only had a limited amount of hard currency and was saving it for Fuyuki.

"I think we should go by boat then. That's the major way to reach Fuyuki from here," Vrishakethu turned his tablet off before shaking his head. "Hopefully no one will try to torpedo it," he muttered dourly and Arjuna frowned. Was that a real concern? "Other Masters are incredibly ruthless and there's also a small splinter faction trying to stop the Holy Grail War from happening. Father was briefing me on them because he planned to have me assassinate them," Vrishakethu said, suddenly looking weary again. Arjuna thought the child was sick of the bloodshed. "Emiya Shirou is Japanese and from Fuyuki. He's also quite ruthless. Tohsaka Rin is no better. I have to assume they won't care about civilian casualties." Vrishakethu paused to rub his face. "That's why I don't like public transportation… there's only a few ways to reach Fuyuki and they surely know all of them."

"Perhaps we should take a circuitous route," Arjuna said slowly and his Master blinked at him. "Perhaps taking a train to a completely different destination before taking a bus?" He was only vague on how the transit system would work. "Or a plane?"

"Hmm, you have a point. It will take longer to get there, but I think we're one of the first to complete a summoning so we have time." Vrishakethu looks at his tablet with a frown. "Let me try to figure this out. We're lucky they programmed me with Japanese," he muttered and Arjuna frowned at the word choice. Programmed? Still.

"I can help you, Vrishakethu," Arjuna said, finding the name flowed easily from his tongue. He sat beside his Master, who angled the laptop so he could see. "Perhaps if we travel here…?" Soon they're embroiled in strategizing, even if it is only planning the way to Fuyuki. Arjuna wondered if this paranoia is justified, but quickly dismisses the concern.

Excessive paranoia is better than too little, particularly in a Grail War.

* * *

Shirou grimaced as he looked at the e-mails in his inbox.

He had agents in Japan, part of the group of believers who knew the Grail was a cruel hoax. Two men, they were both extremely deadly and their task was to prevent any Masters from reaching Fuyuki. If a Servant was killed far past the bounds of the city, it was possible the energies would dissipate without flowing into the Grail. It would be much better to prevent the summonings at all, though, which was still what Shirou and Tohsaka were trying to do.

With one confirmed failure, though, it was up to those two men to keep the homunculus from entering Fuyuki. So far they'd had no luck. Too many planes went from London to Tokyo, they had no idea which one the homunculus had been on. They'd tried to keep a lookout for a dead white child, but Shirou had no illusions. The Lupei Mage Crest might have given the homunculus self-modification abilities that were close to shape-shifting. Darkening his hair and skin would be nothing.

Now, though, one of them thought he might have a lead on the homunculus. Shirou read the message with tight lips. If this was accurate, the homunculus was taking a ship to Fuyuki. Taking a deep breath, he sent a quick message back. _Do whatever is necessary to prevent that ship from making land._ Even as he sent the message, Shirou knew he was sentencing innocent people to death. Yet, he just couldn't afford to care.

The lives of over five billion people might be at stake.

* * *

"That was the best idea Arjuna!" Vrishakethu was bright eyed, bushy tailed and incredibly cute, for all the world like a completely normal teenager. Arjuna felt warmed by the compliment.

"Thank you Master." They had set up a decoy. Purchasing tickets for the boat, they had boarded as if they fully meant to take it, then quietly slipped out. Arjuna had dematerialized and Vrishakethu had waited for the boat to set sail before slipping into the water and swimming to shore. Fortunately it was a cloudy, overcast day and no one had spotted him before he'd gotten safely away.

A quick dry off and a change of clothing and they were ready to follow their real plan, which involved taking a very tourist route. It had required a great deal of research, but they'd plotted a week-long trip around Japan, which would take them near Fuyuki just in the for a spring festival. Sakura flowers? It was a time where many tourists arrived in Fuyuki so it would be easy enough for them to take a bus, and difficult for anyone to pin them down. Arjuna was confident they would arrive safely. Accommodations would be an issue at that point but Vrishakethu thought something informal, like an abandoned building, an attic or even the sewers might be better than a rental. Arjuna wasn't keen on the sewers but agreed that they should see what they could find.

"I know it's stupid but I'm going to enjoy being a tourist," Vrishakethu confessed and Arjuna chuckled, ruffling his hair and making the bang fall over his eye. "HEY! I just managed to fix that!" his Master complained, pushing back to the bit of hair. It immediately flopped over his eye again. "Oh snap… Arjuna, remember, don't call me Master," Vrishakethu said in a low tone.

"Ah, yes, my apologies," Arjuna said, grimacing a little at his slip. "The train is not due for another two hours. Shall we have lunch?" Surely the boy was hungry. As if on cue, his stomach growled and Vrishakethu blushed.

"How'd you make me…? And sure, let's have lunch! I want to try Japanese street food," he said with bright eyed enthusiasm and Arjuna felt warmed by it. Taking his 'son's' hand, they went to find some food. Oddly enough, the first thing they found was a vendor selling crepes. Soon they were both holding crepe cones, crunchy and filled with chicken and teriyaki sauce. It was very different from anything Arjuna had eaten before, but delicious. As they ate Arjuna watched over his Master, feeling deeply content.

The first stage in the Holy Grail War was going well for them.


	4. Chapter 4

Shirou looked down at his arm, gripping it tightly to staunch the flow of blood. The claws of the familiar hadn't gone in deeply, thanks to his reinforcement, but he was still bleeding heavily. Still holding onto the wound, he looked over the bodies, counting them. The blood splatters did not bother Shirou at all.

"We got all of them," he said into his microphone, to Rin. "The summoning circle?"

 _Unused. We made it in time,_ Rin sounded pleased and Shirou nodded. They just taken out a small group of third-rate magi, loosely affiliated with the Clock Tower. They were the kind of people no one would miss.

"Perfect. Let's pack up." This was the second target they'd handled in as many days. The first had been a singular assassination, taking down a rather prominent magus. There might be repercussions from that but Shirou didn't care. He was well on his way to earning his father's title. That thought didn't make him joyful, exactly, but it did give Shirou a grim sense of satisfaction. The world would be better off without these people.

And speaking of people the world was better off without, the homunculus could be scratched off their list. Shirou got a short text indicating the mission was a success. That was a relief and Shirou immediately put the thing out of mind.

It never occurred to him to ask how many civilian casualties there had been.

* * *

"I am so glad we're doing this," Vrishakethu said as he gazed out the window of the train. Arjuna smiled at his simple delight. "Even if I die here, I'll die happy just experiencing this." That made his smile flatten for a moment. Arjuna did not want to think about the possibility of failure. Then his smile came back as he looked out the window.

"This is a very beautiful country and we are seeing so much of it," Arjuna said, seeing the scenery going by. Soon, they would reach a stop and the two of them would get off. What would the stop be? Arjuna wasn't sure. They were stopping randomly in various places, as it suited them. They had no set plans at this stage. That was for later, when they were close to Fuyuki.

The train slid to a stop and they exited, along with the usual commuters. Arjuna smiled as his Master looked around curiously. He was looking for one thing in particular.

"Oh, there it is!" Vrishakethu scampered over to the _ekiben_ store. They sold bento boxes specifically for travellers and were surprisingly good, giving samples of all the local cuisine. So far they hadn't regretted buying them once. "Two please!" He placed his money on the counter and they were very quickly supplied with two bento boxes. Walking outside, they looked for a good place to sit and sample their prizes. There were benches under the cherry trees, which were just starting to bloom. They would be in full bloom by the time they reached Fuyuki. Arjuna gazed over the buildings, the houses and shops. Japan was a beautiful place and so different from India.

"Vrishakethu. At least try to use your chopsticks," Arjuna said firmly as he caught sight of uncouth behavior. His Master stopped, a mildly ashamed look on his face.

"They're so difficult… I'll try, I'll try," he said with a sigh as Arjuna looked at him sternly. "Cheater," Vrishakethu muttered as Arjuna picked up his chopsticks and nimbly handled a sushi roll. He chuckled softly, popping it in his mouth.

"I am simply skilled," he said and his 'son' made a face. They both knew the skill had been imprinted into him by the Grail. Vrishakethu concentrated on his chopsticks and managed to use them, albeit clumsily. He likely seemed like a typical foreigner while Arjuna seemed more like a business traveller. Savoring the food, Arjuna thought the crab was particularly fine. These bento boxes really were quite nice.

Finishing their food, they began to walk, just taking in the sights. As they walked, Vrishakethu pulled out the brochure and checked their current location.

"Oh, Arjuna, this place has a castle!" Really? "It's free except for the turrets, they have an admission fee. I wonder why? But we should definitely go see it!" It did sound interesting. Arjuna was certainly willing to see it. "We should take a taxi, it would be too far to walk." Unless Arjuna dematerialized and carried his Master, but that was unacceptably risky in the middle of the day.

"Certainly. But first, perhaps we should just take a walk?" Arjuna suggested. The areas around the train stations usually held many shops and interesting things, catering to the business travellers and tourists. Vrishakethu nodded, taking his hand. As they walked, Arjuna overheard a pair of elderly women. His Archer eyesight was his keenest attribute but his ears were good as well, and he smiled at their words. _Father and son, must be… so handsome… beautiful together._

Then Arjuna felt a tug on his hand and looked down as his Master came to a stop in front of a store. It seemed to be a general store, selling things like drinks and confectionaries. There were newspapers prominently displayed in the window and his Master was reading one of them? Arjuna's gaze fell on the paper and his breath caught in his throat.

 _Ship sunk in suspected terrorist attack. Fifteen dead, six injured._ The hand on his tightened and Vrishakethu looked at him, his aquamarine eyes suddenly haunted. Arjuna squeezed his hand, trying to convey reassurance. Then he gently pulled the boy away. They continued to walk, but more slowly.

"We made a mistake," Vrishakethu said quietly and Arjuna hesitated. He thought he knew what the boy meant and while it was commendable, he couldn't agree.

 _Our plan was successful. The decoy worked and our enemies believe we are dead,_ Arjuna said as he glanced down at the teen.

 _At the cost of fifteen lives. We made a mistake. We never really thought about what would happen if our enemies fell for our ruse,_ Vrishakethu said and Arjuna did not contradict him. Truthfully, though, Arjuna had known immediately what might happen. It just hadn't mattered to him, compared to the life of his Master.

 _Master, I know you are new to this but this is war. Innocents will die,_ Arjuna said as gently as he could and Vrishakethu suddenly gave him a sharp look.

 _New? I'm an assassin homunculus. I've killed twenty-seven people, thirty-two if you count the vampires._ His Master's tone was acidic and Arjuna blinked. Vampires? _I hated it and I hated myself. Several times I had to be compelled. But even when I wasn't, I never once accepted the responsibility because my actions were not my own. This was something I did – we did. We didn't pull the trigger but we set those people up to die._ That silenced Arjuna because it was true. They had not meant it but they had indeed set the events into motion.

 _What shall we do, Master?_ They could not bring back the dead. Vrishakethu's stern expression faded as the boy looked down, eyes shadowed with guilt. Then he shook his head, looking back up and Arjuna met aquamarine eyes. They seemed full of firm resolve to him.

 _We made a mistake and we'll learn from it. There's nothing we can do for these people but we will not put innocents in danger again,_ Vrishakethu said and while Arjuna knew it would make his task more difficult, he felt warmed by that declaration. Smiling, he gripped his Master's shoulder and gave him a comforting squeeze.

 _It may make things harder in the future, but I am pleased to hear this from you. I will do my best for you,_ Arjuna pledged. Oddly enough, his thoughts suddenly strayed to his brother. Despite the years of war, the brutal damage done, he thought Karna would have felt the same way. A tightness invaded his chest and thoughts of the rakshasa suddenly invaded his mind. Arjuna pushed them away, reaching up to rub his forehead. That was… strange…

"Arjuna? Are you okay?" A hand tugged on his and Arjuna blinked, looking down to meet his Master's gaze.

"I am fine…" Arjuna said, coming back to balance. As he did, though, he felt a touch of worry. The memories from this timeline had suddenly invaded his mind. What did that mean, if anything? "We should continue." They had a great deal to do. Vrishakethu looked at him searchingly before nodding.

"I still want to see the castle. And there's a huge park nearby, this says it's one of the best in Japan. We should see that too," his Master said decisively and Arjuna nodded. "This is something to learn from. I won't let it ruin the day."

"Good." As little time as they might have, it would be best not to waste it in pointless recriminations. Arjuna smiled as his Master pulled out his tablet and used it to hail a taxi. Before too long, their ride arrived and they were on their way to the castle.

For now, they would enjoy themselves. The true business of the Grail War would begin very soon.

* * *

Elsewhere, in an old, abandoned crypt.

"…Ya'll are pointier than I expected."

"Am I?" Red eyes, utterly cold, stared at the woman who'd dared summon him. She stared back, determined to show no weakness before the man she sensed was a predator given human form.

"Also darker and eviller. Not that I'm judging by appearances or anything," she said before considering him and wincing slightly. "No, I am judging by appearances. You're splattered in blood."

"That's my blood," he said, mildly entertained. She stared at him blankly for a moment.

"Does it hurt?" she asked and he grinned slowly. His teeth were pointed.

"It's excruciating. Every moment I live, I am being torn apart and healed in equal measure." He said pleasantly, brushing a hand over the runes. He'd carved them into his own body, to heal himself. She swallowed before squaring her shoulders.

"I am Belle Laveau Yggdmillenial. Are you Cu Chulainn?" she asked and he nodded. "Alright. I don't know how this summoning went all weird on me, but I'm gonna work with it. What's your wish for the Grail?" he stared at her coldly and after a moment, she sighed. "Fuck. On a scale of one to ten, how evil is your wish?" he smiled, amused by her temerity.

"Seven. Possibly eight," Cu Chulainn replied easily and his Master rubbed her forehead, looking like she was getting a headache.

"Fuuuuuck… fine, I'll work with that. I'm gonna be weaseling the details outta you, just so you know." Cu Chulainn shrugged, unconcerned. "Please tell me you can look like a normal person."

"I can," Cu Chulainn said simply, not spelling out the difficulties. His Master nodded, accepting it at face value.

"Fine. I hope you don't get seasick, motherfucker, because we are goin' on a boat. Now c'mon, I gotta measure you for some clothes." A practical woman. Cu Chulainn seriously considered killing her for a moment before deciding that would be foolish. He was receiving a goodly amount of prana and he could sense she had a reasonable pool of it within her. The lack of respect didn't particularly bother him. Really, he was only thinking about killing her because he killed everything. The thought made him smile as she led him out of the crypts, to a tiny little house nearby.

This was a Grail War. His future in the art of killing was bright.

* * *

As she got out the tape measure, Belle glanced at her Servant. He was looking around her home with mild curiosity and seemed completely calm and placid. Belle didn't believe it for a second. She could smell the blood on him, so thick it was like an aura. And it damned well wasn't just his own blood. No, he stank of death, like the perfume of a corpse.

"Not what I fucking well bargained for," she muttered to herself. Cu Chulainn was supposed to be a bit of an idiot, from what she'd read. A womanizing, drunken fool, but with a good mind for tactics and strategy and damned good in a fight. Belle had been alright with that. Her husband had been a drunken, womanizing fool and she'd handled him just fine.

What she'd gotten, though, was something else. Belle began measuring her Servant although it was a bit hard with how… spiky he was. She avoided those spikes like the plague, sensing they'd hurt like hell if she got any in her. Well.

"You said you can look like a normal person. Can you do that for me?" Belle asked and Cu nodded, his armor and pointy bits vanishing.

Well, sort of.

"This is looking like a normal person? Fuck my life," Belle muttered as she surveyed him. All the tats were alright, she supposed, even if the facial ones would make the man stand out like a sore thumb. But the rest of it! "Fuck's sake man you're bleeding everywhere!" The damned pointy bits wouldn't entirely go away. He had red bits sticking out of his arms and legs, making lines going up. As she walked around him, Belle was distressed to see a whole line going down his spine. "Is this shit part of your bones?" Cu glanced over his shoulder at her, red eyes bored.

"Yes." Well, fuck? Belle took a deep breath before nodding sharply.

"Hold still, I'ma gonna try somethin'," Belle said, determined, before going to fetch her kit. She wasn't bad at healing but that wasn't what she was after here.

The kit was an old style doctor's bag and as she came back, Belle put it on the table and opened it, sorting through the contents. Pulling out a jar, she opened it and sniffed it dubiously. It hadn't been used in over a year, would it still be good? Deciding it'd have to be, she set it on the table.

"What are you doing?" Cu Chulainn asked, bored but also a little interested. Belle frowned at him, glancing up from her sorting.

"Hang on a sec," she said, drawing out heavy linen bandages. Looking at them hard, she glanced at the spikes on his body. "Damnit." This would work but not easily. Muttering to herself, Belle reinforced the bandages, strengthening them and making them cut resistant. Reinforcement was basic magic, easy magic and she was damned good with it. "Alright, now…" Belle picked up the jar and walked up to Cu Chulainn before dabbing it on his wounds, muttering her own incantations as she did. "Old man Legba, help me fix this man. Mama, help me dull his pain. What is wrong with this man? You talk right now…" The answer came but it wasn't helpful. "Everything ain't an answer ya fucks." Something more specific came. "I see…" Cu Chulainn was watching her with a frown now.

"This won't work. You cannot heal my wounds," he said but Belle ignored him. He was right, she couldn't heal a thing, but she knew that now. That meant she was changing her focus.

"Take this man's pain, bury it in the graves of the peaceful folks. Spread it to the world and let the world bear it," Belle murmured as she kept spreading the salve. It was a painkilling salve, perfect for what she was doing now. Cu Chulainn suddenly twitched under her hand and took a sharp breath. "Yeah, you feel the difference don't you? Let me keep going and you'll be a damned sight better." Although it wouldn't last forever. But maybe, just maybe it'd last long enough.

When the salve was thoroughly spread, Belle began to bandage the wounds. First she carefully packed them with absorbent gauze, before wrapping the reinforced linen. It was necessary, to keep the blood from leaking everyone and so the poor bastard could wear clothing without shredding it. Cu Chulainn seemed surprised when she was done.

"I am in very little pain," he said before stretching out an arm and flexing it. "And these bandages are holding against my spines. How?" Belle shrugged.

"Common, garden variety reinforcement. They ain't worth much as bandages like that though, that's for the gauze." She'd taped that in place nice. "I'll have to change this a lot. Need to buy more," Belle muttered to herself. Then she frowned at the salve. "And I need to brew more o' this." She'd just used half the jar. With the… last person she'd used it on, it would've lasted a month. "Well, we got a bit of time, the boat ain't leavin' for a week." Belle stood, running a hand through her hair. It was shaved close to her skull, she liked the feeling of the kinky strands. "Oh, I bought you somethin'." He gazed at her in puzzlement as she opened a closet door and pulled out a special gift, something she thought her new servant would appreciate. "There's a fishin' hole down thataway. G'wan, have fun while I brew up some more o' this." She offered him the fishing pole and Cu Chulainn stared at it for a moment before taking it with a toothy grin. "Oh, there's beer in the fridge and d'you smoke?"

"I do," he said after a moment, grin widening. Made him look like a shark. Belle fished out her cigs and handed them over, along with a lighter. "Thank you, Master. You are thoughtful."

"S'nothin'. Try to bring home some catfish an' I'll grill it for ya," Belle said and Cu Chulainn nodded before heading out. He stopped in the kitchen to grab the beer and Belle made a note to buy more of that. She had plenty of cigs, she sacrificed those to the spirits.

If her Servant would take the same sacrifices, Belle would supply them with a glad heart.


	5. Chapter 5

_The Grail would not be denied._

 _Emiya Shirou thought he could prevent the summoning of servants and thus, halt the Grail war. He was wrong. The Grail was swollen with power and required an outlet. One way or another, it would complete the summonings._

 _Most of the candidates were far from Fuyuki, but not all. Thanks to the secrecy of the Clock Tower, many humans lived their lives oblivious to the potential power of their Mage Circuits. And sometimes, stranger things could be found..._

* * *

Heroic Spirit Emiya felt the sharp tug, the distinct sensation of a Grail summoning.

It was incredibly powerful and he had no option for refusal. Yanked by force from the Throne of Heroes, Emiya tumbled helplessly through the sky. He registered something _odd_ even as he tucked himself into a ball, trying to mitigate the impact.

Then he hit, smashing through the roof and rocketing through the attic, coming to rest in - what?

"...?" Emiya coughed, rolling over and trying to get a grip on himself. Something wasn't right. The carpet he was looking at wasn't the familiar red. Instead it was a rag rug, pieced together with more love than skill by an amateur crafter. It softened a wooden floor and Emiya stared as glittery silver sandals, filled with dainty feminine feet, intruded in his view. Emiya absently noticed the bright pink nail polish before following the feet upwards.

"Oh YEAH! I did it I did it I did it~" Emiya stared blankly as a girl, definitely NOT Rin, did a victory dance. "Who's got the magic? I do! That's who! Oh yeah!" Pushing himself to his feet, Emiya looked over the girl with a frown. She could not be older than sixteen and might be younger. A slip of a girl, she had thick brown hair held back in a ponytail with a multi-colored scrunchy, dangling with rainbow beads. Her eyes were a vivid blue, reminding him of the sky. "Wow, my new familiar is hot! Daddy's going to be mad!" Familiar?

"Miss, I am not a familiar," Emiya said, crossing his arms. As he did, he evaluated himself and realized what was off. He wasn't Archer, he was Caster. _That's unusual,_ he mused to himself. But it was also unusual for him to be summoned by someone other than Rin. Glancing over his 'Master' he saw she was wearing a yellow tube top and low-rise jean shorts. Hanging around her neck was a very familiar necklace and Archer's eyes widened for a moment. He could easily tell the ruby gem was a projection, his projection. _When did Rin lose it?_ This had to be a later Grail war. "I am a Servant." The girl tilted her head to one side.

"Oh, you're like a butler then? I've always wanted a butler!" she said brightly and Emiya stared, hoping she was teasing him. He didn't think he was going to be that lucky.

"I am a Servant in the Holy Grail War. You are my Master," Emiya said carefully. Utter blankness. "Do you know what the Holy Grail is, Miss?" She hesitated a moment before reaching up to scratch her head. Emiya noted that the command seals on her hand were unusual, a silvery color rather than the usual red. They were in a peculiar, rococo pattern.

"That's something Christian right? I'm Buddhist. Give me the Cliff Notes, my daddy's going to be coming home any minute now," she ordered and Emiya sighed audibly before tilting his head and giving her a condescending smile.

"The Holy Grail War is a battle to the death. Seven Servants are summoned, beholden to seven Masters. I am a Servant and you are – technically – my Master." Emiya said before pacing up to his Master. He rested a hand on his hip, gazing down at the girl. She barely reached his chest. "However, that is in name only. I will fight as I see fit, when I see fit," Emiya said smoothly. She was gazing up at him with wide eyes, seeming overwhelmed by his presence. "You can stay safe in the basement while I handle this." Emiya tilted his head, giving her a cocky smile. "Master."

"You want to go out and fight while I stay safe at home?" she asked, gazing at him with wide, innocent eyes. Emiya nodded, still smiling. "Wow, you'll risk yourself like that?" To Emiya's surprise, his young Master suddenly hugged him. "You're the – "

 ** _WHAM!_** Emiya's eyes went comically wide as all his breath left his lungs. His diaphragm spasmed sharply as he registered a full force hit to the solar plexus. And by 'full force' he meant _full force._ Not a Berserker level hit, it was close to Saber. He was flung away like a rag doll and hit the wall sharply, unable to breathe as he slid painfully down.

 _I forgot. No Mind's Eye._ His Caster abilities were very different from his Archer class. Emiya hadn't been expecting an attack from his Master. Then she was grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up. Emiya vaguely registered her abnormal strength again before she shouted in his face.

"WORST SERVANT EVER!" She shook him violently and his teeth rattled. "You're going to obey me or I will kick you in the balls so hard I'll rupture your testicles! Want some proof I can do it?" Emiya tried to jerk away as her foot came up and failed, her grip on his coat rock solid. Fortunately she wasn't aiming for his face. Instead, her heel went into the wall right beside his head, smashing easily through wood and plaster. Dust blew over his face and Emiya stared in wide-eyed shock as his young Master's prana seemed to surge. There was absolutely no control. Had this girl not been trained at all? "You got it?!"

"Got… it…" Emiya managed to choke out. This wasn't quite the way he'd envisioned this going.

"GOOD! So let's start over. I'm Moriyama Rika!" Rika shook him, none too gently and Emiya endured it, feeling like he'd been dropped into some bizarre nightmare. "Now tell me your name! No bullshit or I'll kick you in the balls!"

"Caster – " Emiya paused as a foot hovered ominously. "Please call me Shirou," he said, mentally giving up. It wasn't like it mattered that much anyway. The foot went down.

"Okay Shirou, I'm glad to meet you," Rika said, letting go of his coat. Emiya wavered but managed to stay on his feet, pressing a hand to his diaphragm with a grimace. He was breathing fairly well now but it still stung. Then there was the sound of a door closing. "OH SHIT! That's daddy! Um… vanish or something, I have to take care of this!" Rika ran out of the room and Emiya stared after her. Then he glanced up at the hole in the roof. A small smile crossed his face and taking a deep breath, he analyzed the structure. With the immense amount of prana his Master was feeding him, along with his Caster abilities, it was the simplest thing in the world to rebuild it. A quick cleaning later and the room was spotless. Emiya dematerialized just as the door opened.

"No daddy don't go… in… there…?" Rika stared at the completely spotless living room as Emiya mentally smirked. Her father, a rather handsome man with brown hair, seemed perplexed.

"You didn't want me to see that you cleaned it? There's no need to keep secrets Rika," he said calmly as he reached up and loosened his tie. "You even got rid of that ridiculous summoning circle. Thank you, that was taking up too much space." If he'd had a body, Emiya would have been biting his lip to hold back laughter. His Master was looking a bit like a fish out of water. Then she blinked, managing to recover.

"Uh, right! It wasn't working anyway so I cleaned it off! What would you like for supper daddy?" She said and he shrugged.

"Whatever you want to make. I just want to relax, it's been a difficult day at work," he said before doing just that, pulling off his suit jacket and tossing it on a chair before flopping onto the couch. As he did, he picked up a book and opened it, starting to read. Rika bustled out and Emiya silently followed. If the patriarch of the family was going to rest, he could materialize in the kitchen.

Emiya did just that, almost making his Master drop a frying pan.

"What are you doing?" she hissed and Emiya gave her a cocky smile.

"I will help you, Master. I am an able cook," he said, unwilling to stay dematerialized while this child butchered the meal. Rika hesitated a moment before nodding.

"Alright, but make sure daddy doesn't see you. I can't imagine how I'd explain this! I mean, aside to say I managed to summon a demon but then he'd call the priests again…" Again? Emiya decided he didn't want to know. Looking in the fridge, he quickly devised a plan of attack. Pulling out the vegetables first, he got to work slicing. Rika was dicing an onion with intense concentration and adding it to the frying pan. "I'll handle the rice." Perfect.

In less than a half-hour, they were done. Emiya dematerialized and watched as Rika called for her father.

"Daddy, supper is done!" she called and he came into the room, his shirt a bit undone. Emiya wondered what the man did for a living. As he took a seat, Emiya scanned him and came to the conclusion that he was a completely normal human, without a Mage Circuit to his name. Interesting that he'd somehow spawned such a little powerhouse. Turning his attention to his Master, Emiya began to scan her more fully.

And if he hadn't been dematerialized, he would have frozen in shock.

 _A Magic Core._ Emiya felt faint. This girl did not have Mage Circuits at all! Instead, she was a fountain of prana, generating it with every breath in and releasing it with every exhale. Now that he knew, Emiya realized the ambient magic in the air was much higher than it should have been. Was this affecting her father? After a sharp look at him, Emiya realized it wasn't, not really. He'd just developed a tolerance for it. _How can this be?_ What was this girl's mother? A phantasmal beast? Or was she a descendant whose legacy had somehow activated? Emiya couldn't know for sure. What he did know was that he had to train her. Her Magic Core was fully active and Rika was aware of it, making bumbling forays into the realm of magic. Emiya grit his spectral teeth. Where was the master of Fuyuki in this?! This girl could be a menace! _Rin, we are going to have words._ If Rin was here. If not, who was managing the place?

"Rika, this is absolutely lovely," her father complimented and Emiya smiled to himself as his Master went a little pink. "I haven't had a meal this good since your mother was with us." Oh, so the mysterious mother had lived with them? Emiya was going to question his Master thoroughly.

"Thank you so much daddy!" Rika looked around, trying to pinpoint her Servant. She managed it and smiled directly at him. Emiya was amused.

"So how were your lessons with Sachiko?" he asked and they began to converse about Rika's work. Emiya quickly realized that she was not going to school. Instead, Rika was being privately tutored by a woman her father employed, a retired teacher named Sachiko. Emiya wondered why. Had she been expelled? He couldn't ask and they didn't go into that.

"How was work daddy?" Rika asked and Emiya was treated to a rather amusing story of customer service gone awry. He quickly deduced that Rika's father was the District Manager of the local Apple stores. For some reason, based out of Fuyuki, but he handled much of the surrounding area. Problem children tended to end up on his lap.

After supper, Rika and her father did the dishes together. Emiya wasn't able to speak to her at all, to his silent frustration. Finally, though, she retired to her room. Emiya almost cringed at the girlishness of it. The whole room was painted pink and her bed was the frilliest thing he'd ever seen, covered in ruffles and embroidered pillows. The bookshelf was full of books, but also festooned with unicorns and fairies and glitter. The only relief from the unremitting pinkness was the computer desk, and that was half-covered in anime figurines and candy wrappers.

"Shirou?" Rika called softly and he materialized. "Can you tell me more about this Holy Grail War now?"

"Yes, Master," Emiya said just as quietly. Taking the computer chair, he comfortably took a seat, crossing one leg over his knee. "The Holy Grail War happens roughly once every fifty years…" Emiya began running through the whole thing, his Master listening intently. Rika seemed to have calmed down considerably. Or was she just worried that her father might hear them? Likely the latter. He seemed somewhat aware of the magic his daughter was involved with but did he understand the extent of it? Emiya had more questions than answers.

When he finished with the explanation, Emiya decided to ask those questions.

"Miss Rika, I need to know some things about you. First, have you been expelled?" Emiya asked, deciding to start with the easier question first. Rika grimaced before nodding.

"You know what I said about making testicles explode? I kind of did that once." …Dear gods. "He was three grades over me and tried to rape me." Suddenly, Emiya had considerably less sympathy for the boy in question. "I freaked and kind of overreacted. He almost died. Anyway, the school expelled us both." Emiya frowned at that and Rika shrugged. "Daddy was really upset but decided I shouldn't be going anyway. And he put me into martial arts to learn to control myself better."

"I see," Emiya said slowly before going to the larger question. "And your mother? Who and what was she?" Rika played with her hair for a moment before heaving a sigh.

"Promise not to laugh?" Emiya nodded and Rika continued. "My mother is Titania, the Queen of the Faeries." …What? "Mommy and daddy met in England, he was there as an exchange student. She lost her powers and got kicked out of the Second World, I don't know how. But daddy found her by a river. Mom told me she was thinking of throwing herself in but then daddy was there and he was just such a sweet kid that she let him talk her into going home with him. Daddy didn't have much but he shared everything he had and then they fell in love. They got married in England and then mommy came back to Japan with him."

"Everything was great until three years ago. Then mommy sat me down and told me her real name and that she had to go back home," Rika said, tears building in her eyes. "She said she'd come back if she could but if she couldn't, I needed to know because I wouldn't be like humans. My magic would come in with puberty, it had to, and she told me to look for a magus to learn to use it. But I can't find one! How do you find one?" They should have found her. Emiya was definitely going to give whoever was looking after Fuyuki a stern talking to.

"Does your father know about any of this?" Emiya asked and Rika bit her lip before heaving a sigh.

"Kind of. Daddy knows I'm not normal and he knows it's more than how strong I am. I think he knows mommy must not have been normal but he doesn't talk about it," Rika said unhappily and Emiya frowned. "I think… I think it really hurts him to think that mom left because she wanted to. He looks so sad sometimes. So we just don't talk about it much. But I think the magic is part of why he decided I shouldn't go to school anymore."

"I see," Emiya said slowly, reflecting on it. As chatty and hyper as Rika might be, that might have been a very wise course. How much was her father truly aware of? Perhaps a great deal. Still. "We should try to keep him ignorant of the Grail War. He can only hurt himself." Rika's father practically screamed 'civilian casualty' to Heroic Spirit Emiya. He silently vowed not to let it happen. "Now, I must begin to train you." Emiya said firmly and Rika clapped her hands together in delight but kept her voice down.

"Yayness! We should take it to the living room. There's a reason I put the summoning circle there, it's huge and we don't have a basement." Ah, what a shame. That would have been better. Hm.

"Do you have a shed?" Emiya asked and she shook her head, looking downcast. "Well, the first thing I'll show you is how to make bounded fields." Not that she'd be ready for that for a very long time, but as Caster, Emiya needed to begin setting up his territory. Although his true Territory would be his reality marble. Emiya felt a small chill at the thought.

It was going to take a while to get used to the Caster class.

* * *

Cu Chulainn smoked his cigarette and watches his fishing line, feeling oddly at peace.

He was the Mad King Cu Chulainn, created from Medb's wish on the Grail. He'd taken over the land of America and ruled it with an iron fist. He'd killed anyone who dared rebel. That was who he was. Except he wasn't. Cu Chulainn thought about it as he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, letting a cloud of smoke float through the air.

 _Leaping over the water. Assassin gouged his heart out. Falling into the dark water. The shadow waiting to tear him apart._

 ** _I will not die. I will not die._**

 _Somehow, the shadow didn't tear him apart. It embraced him instead and drew him into the darkness. His soul screaming, he'd instinctively done the only thing he could do._

 ** _I will not die. I will not die._**

 _He'd absorbed Gae Bolg. The demonic spear became his heart, filling his chest. The thorns were tearing him to pieces. He handled that by carving the runes into his chest._

 ** _I will not die. I will not die._**

 _He could not escape the shadows. He tried, over and over again, as stubborn in death as he was in life. But he couldn't get free. Until a voice called for him and light finally penetrated the darkness._

 ** _Yes. Yesyesyes!_**

 ** _This time I'm not going to die._**

"Two sets of memories. That's a thing," Cu Chulainn mused to himself, picking up the beer and taking a drink. It was a damned odd thing, but it didn't really bother him. It did tell him something interesting, though. "Another corrupted Grail." What did he care though? His only wish was another life for himself, so he could become King again. The Corrupted Grail would do that, no problem. "What a nice day." It was a perfect day for fishing, sunny and warm. Without the pain to distract him, Cu Chulainn was really enjoying himself. His Master was alright.

After catching three fish, Cu Chulainn cleaned and gutted them before wandering back home. When he walked into the kitchen his Master had her back to the door, working over the stove. Cu Chulainn paused in the doorway, just drinking in the sight.

His Master was a fine woman. Skin as black as ebony, hair like a highland sheep. A womanly figure, with wide hips and fine breasts. Not a warrior woman, Cu Chulainn could see that, but no weakling either. To his eyes, she was an exotic beauty. You didn't see skin and hair like that in Ireland, not when he'd lived at least.

"Oh, ya'll are back. You caught any fish?" She turned and Cu Chulainn smiled, holding up the fish. She moved to take them from him and just when their fingers touched, he made his move. The fish tumbled to the floor as he pinned his Master up against the counter, her eyes going wide. They were as dark as her body, he vaguely noticed.

"You're a beautiful woman. I want to have you," Cu Chulainn growled in her ear, grinding his body against her. He felt her stiffen and grinned. He liked a bit of resistance.

"You get the fuck off me boy! I – mph!" He caught her mouth with one hand, silencing Belle as he squeezed a breast through her clothes. Mmm, nice, very nice. He couldn't wait to see what she looked like with her ass in the air, taking his dick like a bitch in heat.

Cu Chulainn truly thought he had the upper hand. Silenced, his Master couldn't use her command seals and it would be the work of a second to gag her. The last thing he expected was for the seals on her hand to flare, one of them vanishing as a painful compulsion ripped through him.

"Fuck!?" Cu Chulainn found himself forced back, his hands falling off his Master. "What the… hell…?" He raised his hands defensively as Belle panted, fire in her eyes and rage on her face.

"I don't need to talk to cast magic, boy! And now you've done it. You won't be touching any woman 'gainst her will again!" Cu Chulainn grimaced as he realized that was precisely the command she'd pushed through the Seal. And she'd done it without saying a word, through sheer willpower. Impressive. "I oughtta have you impale yourself on those spines 'o yours but I got a war to win. Now pass me them fish." …Hmph. Cu Chulainn bent down and retrieved the fish, carefully handing them over. Their fingers brushed for a moment and Cu Chulainn noted that casual contact wasn't enough to activate the Command Seal.

"Tsh. Is there any hope my Master might fuck me because she wants to, then?" Cu Chulainn asked, his voice a throaty growl. Belle hesitated a moment before shaking her head with a half-smile, half-scowl.

"Maybe, you handsome devil. But you'll have to make that up to me good. Now, you go sit while I fry up this fish," she said and Cu Chulainn smiled as he went to take a seat. As he did, though, he noticed her Command Seal had an interesting hole in it. He couldn't touch a woman against her will… but it said nothing about a man. That wasn't his usual thing, but if women were barred to him, he would consider it.

It would be an amusing diversion in the killing field that was the Grail War.


	6. Chapter 6

_I loathe my Master already,_ Assassin mused as she looked into a hand mirror. It did not show her face. Instead, it showed the interior of a bathroom. She tilted the mirror, trying to get a better view. If she was to kill a young girl for her Master's wounded pride, she intended to do it well.

Assassin had been summoned just yesterday by a young man who made her skin crawl. Sleazy was the most charitable word she had for him. Creepy, vile and disgusting were more accurate. He was aware of the Grail War, he'd found a diary of a previous one, but seemed mostly concerned with revenge. Revenge on teachers, revenge on fellow students, revenge on everyone. Nothing was ever his fault after all. He was being treated unfairly. Assassin blew a bit of hair out of her face before activating full Presence Concealment and using her mirror.

She slipped smoothly out of the bathroom mirror, landing soundlessly on the bathroom floor. As she did, Assassin felt a prickle on her skin and realized, with surprise, that she'd entered within a bounded field. That was one of her great abilities, slipping past the defenses of a magus. Yet she hadn't expected to be using it today! It seemed her Master had accidentally targeted someone with ability.

Moving carefully, Assassin left the washroom, realizing it was adjoining to a master bedroom. There was a man sleeping peacefully in the bed and Assassin regarded him blankly for a moment. A very handsome, older man with chestnut hair. Aside from his attractiveness, there was nothing interesting about him and he had not woken, so he could live. Assassin tip-toed out of the room and pulled out her dagger, seeking her prey.

She found the girl in an excruciatingly pink room. Assassin felt a bit of sadness as she looked at the pink ruffled bed, the girl curled up and snoozing beneath the covers. Didn't all little girls start out pink? Her hand tightened on her dagger and Assassin contemplated refusing her orders. Her Master would resort to a Command Seal, most likely. No, there was no point. Assassin truly did want to win the Grail, so the seals were too precious to be squandered, even if her Master was a jackass. She would make this swift though. Lifting her dagger she aimed for the heart –

And very nearly died as two blades almost cut her in two.

"…!" Assassin's gasp was soundless as she leapt back frantically, almost falling out the door. A man in red and black, with white hair, materialized in front of her. His expression spelled doom and Assassin immediately ran. Blades flew after her and one of them clipped her shoulder, but that was actually helpful. Her semi-controlled tumble took her closer to the bathroom while evading the second blade. She dove into the room, frantically reaching for the mirror –

And touched it just before a blade bisected the air where she had been. Materializing over her hand mirror, Assassin panted harshly, shocked by her near miss.

"Well. Well," Assassin whispered, calming her beating heart. That had been a Servant. Her idiot of a Master had targeted another Master! That was… what they wanted to do, of course, but a bit of warning would have been nice!

"Did you do it?" …Ahahaha. Assassin looked up with a smile as her Master entered the room. He was a sallow youth with oily black hair and a bad case of acne. He was smiling nastily and she knew he would demand a full recounting of the death. It pleased her that she couldn't give it.

"No, she has a Servant," Assassin said pleasantly, trying to decide who that Servant had been. Not Lancer, not Berserker, not… Caster? Hmm. There had been a boundary field and that child hadn't seemed like a magus. Could that have been Caster? "I'm not certain what the class was. Archer, Saber, Rider or perhaps Caster." Caster seemed the least likely but she couldn't rule it out. That boundary field seemed suspicious, but the girl could have done it. "Master, please warn me when I am going to be attempting the life of a magus," she made her tone gently admonishing but her Master seemed astonished.

"That little bitch is a magus? …Shit! I should have known!" he growled and Assassin ran her fingers through her hair, working out a few tangles. "That's how she got me expelled!" Not your own conduct, oh no, it had to be magic. Assassin put a hand over her mouth, hiding a gag. "Well, we can save her for later. In fact, we'll save her for last! Get the other woman."

"I am wounded Master. Might I have some time to recover?" Assassin asked sweetly and her Master eyed her for a moment before grinning. It was repulsive.

"If you recover in my bed." …ewgh. Well, it would just have to do. Assassin truly didn't want to go out injured and her Master was worthless for healing magic. She would recover naturally by tomorrow. Resigning herself to a mildly unpleasant night, Assassin followed her Master into his room. She feigned sighs and coos as her Master subjected her to his very poor ideas of lovemaking. As he did, she imagined he was someone else, a man with sad eyes and gentle hands. The face often changed, but those two things always remained the same.

How she missed that man.

* * *

Back in the house.

"I'm not complaining. But how did your father sleep through that?" Emiya asked as he showed his Master the art of structural analysis and repair of inanimate objects. This was an excellent time for a lesson, given how much he had to clean up. Rika shrugged helplessly.

"I dunno. The only thing that wakes him up is the alarm clock, I think mommy enchanted it." Really? Emiya made a note to check that later. "He slept through a fire alarm once, when I burnt the bacon."

"I see." If you could sleep through that kind of alarm, Emiya supposed you could sleep through anything. "Here miss, do you want to try?" They were fixing the mirror now. It had cracked when the woman went through it. Emiya frowned at the thought, examining the mirror. There was nothing mystical about it but the woman had used it as a portal. He quickly cast several spells, cantrips really, that would alert him if it was used again.

"What was that you just did?" Rika asked, interested, and Emiya patiently explained. "Hey, can she do that with any mirror? There's two more I can think of," Rika said and Emiya frowned. Mirrors.

"It's quite likely she can. Can you show me the other mirrors?" he asked and Rika showed him a large, floor length mirror in a small room that seemed to be a junk repository. The final mirror was in the second bathroom. Emiya made sure they were all secured before he was satisfied. Then his Master went back to bed and Emiya settled in to watch over her again, a silent sentinel.

Nothing would get past him.

* * *

"This isn't working," Shirou ran a hand over his face as Rin watched him, not unsympathetically.

"We knew it might not. There's no option but plan B," she said and Shirou nodded with a grimace as he looked at the cavern that held the Grail. They couldn't get inside, the powerful forces at work were keeping them out and that would be true until at least four of the Servants had died.

"So you're going to summon?" the young man with them, a member of the Church, asked nervously. He was fidgeting with the cross around his neck. Shirou shrugged helplessly.

"We don't have another choice. We just have to hope the Grail will let us complete." The Grail chose the Masters, after all. "This plan is going to really suck though," Shirou said under his breath as he thought about it.

The Church had been monitoring the Grail for him, in the person of this young man. An incredibly sensitive spiritual healer, he'd been able to sense each surge from the Grail. The first surge he'd detected definitely coincided with the Lupei's summoning. Since then, though, he'd registered four more surges. Servants were being summoned and Shirou was dismayed. None of the obvious players he'd been monitoring had Servants. Where were they going? Was the Grail granting them to non-magi?

It didn't really matter. What mattered was his plan to prevent the Grail War by stopping Servant summoning was failing. Shirou's backup plan was to summon a Servant themselves and enter the Grail war, not to win it, but to try to convince the Servants not to fight. Another way to stop the War would be if at least three of the Servants never went to fill the Grail. Failing that, they would use their Servant to destroy the Grail again. That would mean another war in ten years though, so that was a definite plan C.

"Well, why are we just standing here? Come on Shirou!" Rin said practically and Shirou smiled at her. Her practicality was what he loved about her, which was why he was letting her do this.

They went to the Tohsaka manor. It had been rented out for quite a while, making Rin some income but the renters were gone now. The summoning circle in the basement was still perfect and it was Rin that was going to use it. Her Mage Circuits were infinitely better than his, it would be much easier for her to support a Servant. Shirou felt a need to do it himself, but sternly quashed it. Rin did not appreciate it when he got overprotective.

They didn't have a catalyst, Rin had lost her pendant in the final battle and Shirou didn't want to see Archer again anyway. So they would just do the ritual and hope the Grail responded. If it was desperate enough for Masters, it would.

"Fill, fill, fill…" Rin began the chant as Shirou watched. He could feel the mana building, the intensity of the reaction. The Grail was overfull of mana and taking any outlet it could. "Guardians of the balance, come to me now…" Power kept building until it was almost choking, filling the air with radiance. Shirou watched, enthralled, as the summoning circle blazed.

Finally it could take no more and the power snapped. Blue mist filled the circle, shrouding the summoned spirit in mystery. It gradually died down and they both waited as the form of a man took shape. He was kneeling before them and Shirou's breath caught in his throat as he slowly stood, armor clinking. He was wearing scale armor and a hooded, dark grey cloak, which hid most of his face. Shirou could just make out a square jaw and a white beard.

"Who summons this broken shell of a man?" he asked and Shirou stared. His gaze rested on Rin for just a moment before travelling to him. "Are you my Master?" he asked and Shirou blinked.

"I am your Master," Rin said, with not so hidden irritation. Shirou hoped they hadn't summoned a misogynist, that would be hard to deal with. His gaze slid back to Rin and he examined her for a moment.

"He is a better fit for my nature. But I suppose it is not mine to reason why. I accept your contract, Master," he said and Shirou breathed a little easier. Although what did that comment mean? "I am no one and nothing. You have the pleasure to have summoned the weakest of the Saber class." …What? "Please call me Saber."

"Who are you?" Rin's question came swift and hard. The Servant shrugged, pushing back his hood. What was revealed was more white hair, hanging lankly over his shoulders, and an old, badly scarred face. A thick, heavy scar passed over one eye but the eye itself was unmarred.

"I am no one," he said and Shirou practically felt Rin's teeth grinding together. Fortunately, the Servant continued before she could explode. "I am a Wraith, a symbolic existence. You may refer to me as the Nameless Soldier."

"….Ohhh." Shirou murmured, suddenly understanding. He'd learned about Wraiths at the Clock Tower. There were only a few known ones and the Nameless Soldier was on the list. From Rin's indrawn breath, she was also remembering.

"What are your abilities?" she asked and Saber obliged.

"I am an expert with my Skullbreaker," he said and Shirou noticed that instead of a sword, his weapon was a flanged mace. However, that did fall under the category of Saber. "I can use it one handed with a shield, or two handed, depending on the situation. My noble phantasms are I Have Lived Many Lives and Assimilation." He smiled sadly and Shirou noticed that his eyes were dark brown and seemed tinged with regret. "I Have Lived Many Lives allows me to reincarnate after I die, provided my master has enough prana." …That was an incredible power! "Assimilation allows me to devour Heroic Spirits that have low fame. When I do, I can take their attributes and enhance myself. Those are my only abilities."

"Those are amazing abilities. Why do you call yourself the weakest Saber?" Shirou said and the Nameless Soldier just looked at him blankly.

"Assimilation is a crapshoot on anyone with even purely regional fame. I Have Lived Many Lives is useful, but few magi can reincarnate me more than three times." The Nameless Soldier's shoulders slumped before he gave them a bitter smile. "I am the most able at finding new and tragic ways to die." Oh.

"Well, hopefully you won't have to die at all. This is what is going on…" Rin explained to him about the Corrupted Grail as Shirou watched his reactions. Their Saber surely had his own wish, after all. He just seemed bemused though.

"I am a… peacekeeper? This task is familiar to me. But I think it will be nearly impossible with Heroic Spirits and determined magi," the Nameless Soldier observed and Shirou felt the start of a headache. Because he was right, it was going to be almost impossible. Then the Soldier smiled. "Yet, impossible tasks are my forte. I will do my best for you."

"You don't have a wish?" Rin asked and the wraith paused a moment before looking down.

"I want a name and a history to call my own," he said softly and Shirou swallowed at the melancholy regret in his voice. "But that wish goes against my very nature. I do not believe even the Grail can grant it."

"We can give you a name," Shirou said and stopped as the Soldier laughed. It was a rough, brittle sound.

"Oh can you? But can you remember it the next day?" he said before shaking his head. "Foolishness. Shall we leave this place?" Exchanging a glance, Tohsaka took a deep breath and nodded. As they left the manor, back to their hideaway, Shirou felt misgivings. The Nameless Soldier was agreeable but by his own admission, not particularly powerful.

Could they really use him to keep this War from happening?

* * *

"You know, when you said we were going on a boat, I did not picture this," Cu Chulainn said lazily before sipping his margarita.

"Mmm hmm," Belle fanned herself with a small smile, gazing up at the sky from behind onyx sunglasses. "See, this is what we call hidin' in plain sight. With that mud doll o' mine ain't no one gonna know we're on this boat." The boat in question was actually a cruise ship, going from Vancouver to Japan. Then it would be going around the island, but Belle and Cu Chulainn weren't interested in that. No, they would be getting off at the closest stop to Fuyuki and driving the rest of the way.

Belle smirked a little as she thought about the mud doll. A fine piece of work, it was made from mud and her own blood, powered by sacrifices to the gods. It looked and acted just like her, in a limited way, and a good friend of hers had promised to take care of it for a week. Then it'd fall apart but by that time they'd already be in Fuyuki. That boy, Shirou she thought the name was, could just go fuck himself at that point. Cu Chulainn would eat the little fucker alive, probably literally.

"You want another drink?" Belle asked as she sat up. Her own margarita was low. Red eyes blinked at her before Cu Chulainn smiled, showing those pointed teeth of his.

"Oh yeah, I'd love that," he murmured and Belle smiled before going to the bar. As she did, she saw a couple pretty girls eyeing up the man and murmuring a bit about his tats. Mentally, she shook her head. Damned foolish children, couldn't see the danger in that man. To Belle it was as obvious as a snake spreading its hood. If she ever decided to let Cu Chulainn have her, she planned to chain him down first.

Smiling a bit at the thought – damn, that was sexy – Belle collected the drinks and brought them back. She handed Cu his drink first, their fingers brushing just a little. Settling back down on her deck chair, Belle settled into the hard and demanding task of proper sun worship.

Only a damned fool would do magic on a cruise ship so she had every reason in the world to kick back and relax.

* * *

In Fuyuki, roughly the same time.

"This is really neat," Vrishakethu murmured as he walked with Arjuna up the stairs to the temple. He nodded, looking at the gate thoughtfully. There was something odd about it, something spiritual. But Arjuna did not have time to analyze it, moving with the flow of the crowd.

He and Vrishakethu were attending the first day of the Sakura festival, a solemn ceremony at the temple. Arjuna fortunately knew quite a bit about it, thanks to the Grail, so they were both wearing fine yukata suitable for the occasion. They still looked like foreigners but respectful, knowledgeable foreigners.

Then Arjuna detected something that put any other thoughts out of his mind.

 _Master, that girl over there. She has a Servant,_ Arjuna thought to his Master and saw Vrishakethu stiffen incrementally before giving the girl a thoughtful glance. She didn't seem to have noticed them yet, staring straight ahead.

 _She's very powerful,_ Vrishakethu said after a moment and Arjuna nodded minutely. _I'm sure they won't try anything right now but keep an eye on them._ The girl blinked and her head turned. Arjuna met her eyes for a moment and saw they were a beautiful shade of blue. Then her gaze dropped to Vrishakethu and an odd expression crossed her face for a moment. Arjuna couldn't place it before she looked in front of her again.

 _I will. Please, enjoy this place,_ Arjuna said softly and Vrishakethu looked at him with a smile. Then he took the advice, devoting himself to the sakura ceremony. Arjuna kept a wary eye on the girl and her Servant, so he noticed the girl's gaze sliding to his Master several times. Each time she pulled it back, but then ended up looking again. Evaluating the opposition? Most likely. Arjuna smiled to himself, but it was a dark smile

Very soon, the Grail War would begin in earnest.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the land of insanity (as Emiya thought of it).

Apparently, going to the sakura ceremony at the temple was a yearly tradition for the family and there was absolutely no way they were going to skip it. Emiya approved of it because what safer way was there to scout out the Temple? Also, there was a reason why Medea had set up shop here. Emiya wondered if there was some way he could legitimately have Rika and her father move to the temple. How though? To manage that they'd likely need to tell Rika's father the truth. Just the thought gave him a headache. Or could they perhaps sneak in and stay unobserved in one of the smaller buildings? Emiya made a mental note to scout the temple thoroughly later.

As they walked through the gate, though, Emiya detected something that did not gladden his heart.

 _Master, that man is a Servant and the child beside him is his Master,_ Caster reported quietly. He was disembodied over his Master's head. As he spoke, he examined the Servant in particular. Dark skin and dark hair, his appearance was not Asian or European. Looks were not much to go on, really, but at least many identities were ruled out. Rika started a little and looked at them. _Master!_

 _What? They have to know we're here,_ she said and Emiya was stymied because it was true. Then she murmured something and Emiya's heart almost stopped. "He's really cute."

 _Master, he is a Servant,_ Emiya said, manfully strangling the urge to throttle her. His Master huffed at him.

 _Not him! He's old,_ she thought with youthful contempt. Emiya felt a headache coming on. _The boy is really cute. His hair is white! What color are his eyes?_ The other boy glanced towards them and Emiya saw, with a bit of horror, that his eyes were a gorgeous shade of aquamarine. _Oh wow he's super cute!_

 _Master, do not be ridiculous. You will most likely have to kill him,_ Emiya pointed out and his Master was silent for a moment. The ceremony was commencing so solemn silence was the correct action. Unfortunately, that gave Rika plenty of time to think.

 _We can have allies though right? I think he's perfect!_ If he had a desk, Emiya's head would be meeting it. _And he's a kid too! We kids should stick together, right?_ Rika had a minor point, but only a minor one. Emiya could distinctly remember another unchildlike child with white hair. _I've decided. He's going to be my new best friend! We'll be besties forever!_ Wait, what?

 _Master, I advise against this in the strongest possible terms,_ Emiya said as Rika glanced at the boy again. _Rika?_ At that point he realized she was ignoring him and mentally gave up.

His Master could do what she liked. It seemed he was just along for the ride.

* * *

Arjuna was NOT expecting what happened when the ceremony was over.

They were just starting down the steps when the girl ran towards them. Arjuna felt Vrishakethu tense and he clamped down on his Master's arm, afraid he would do something violent in public. His assassin's training definitely made it possible, particularly when the girl grabbed his arm.

"HELLO! I'm Moriyama Rika and I'm going to be your new best friend!" …Wait, what? "Please come to lunch with us, please please please! Daddy will pay for it!" Her eyes were wide and innocent and Arjuna felt completely off centre. What precisely was happening here? Vrishakethu tried to shake her off.

"I don't know you," Vrishakethu pointed out, his tone cold, but she would not be deterred.

"I just gave you my name so you do now! What's yours?" she asked and Vrishakethu gave him a helpless look. Arjuna frowned at her.

"He is Vraj Khatri and I am Archer," he said, his voice chill and felt a strange bobble from the Servant following the girl. Peculiar. Then a man with chestnut hair and a facial resemblance to the girl was following them down the steps.

"Rika. Haven't we spoken about this? Drive-by best friending people is rude," he said with a sigh and Arjuna blinked. Drive-by best friending? "Leave these poor people alone."

"But daaaaddy! We're kids, we should stick together! Friends are good to have!" she said rapidly and Arjuna blinked. Were they being offered an alliance? The man with her looked puzzled.

"You have plenty of friends. Come on Rika…" he firmly escorted her away and she looked back, mouthing something. Call me? Arjuna nodded to himself. The man with her, her father, was ignorant of the Grail War. Interesting. They both stood still, watching the two depart as the crowds eddied by.

 _Arjuna, was she offering us an alliance?_ Vrishakethu asked as they began walking down the steps. Arjuna nodded. _Do you think we should take her up on it?_

 _Perhaps,_ Arjuna said slowly. _I noticed as she spoke to us that her prana seemed wildly out of control. She is untrained._ Magic filled the air around that girl like a fog, and it shouldn't. No human magus would carry such a cloud around them. That meant she likely needed allies. _We should consider it._ How much use would she be to them, though? Oddly enough, Arjuna felt reluctant to abandon the child to her fate.

 _Maybe. I'll need to think about it. Moriyama. We can probably look her up in the phone book,_ Vrishakethu said and Arjuna nodded. That was probably what the child had meant by 'call me.'

They would have to consider it very carefully, but an ally might be useful at this stage in the Grail War.


	7. Chapter 7

Heroic Spirit Emiya was seriously considering gouging his own eyeballs out. His Master was posing in front of her mirror, modelling various outfits. She was on her third so far.

 _Master, they haven't even agreed to meet us,_ Emiya tried to point out the obvious flaw in his Master's current behavior. Unfortunately, she wasn't listening.

"What do you think? Is it too hoochie mama?" Hoochie mama? Emiya was unfortunately looking right at his Master as she bent over and gave him an excellent panty shot. The blue mini-skirt she was wearing did absolutely nothing to hide her frilly pink underthings. "Is it too low cut in front?" Emiya made a sound like a death gargle and his Master straightened, looking over her shoulder in surprise. "What?"

 _Master, if you wear a skirt like that you cannot bend over at the waist,_ Emiya said, recovering his equilibrium. _And it doesn't matter if it's low cut in the front as you have no breasts to pop out._ That was unkind but true, Rika was in a training bra. She glared right at him.

"Oh shut it! Who asked you anyway?" …She'd been doing nothing BUT asking him… "Do you think the necklace looks – OH!" The phone rang, to Emiya's eternal gratitude. Now if it was only a telemarketer – "Hello! Oh hey, I was hoping you would call!" Emiya couldn't hear the other end of the conversation but Rika was listening. "A neutral place? Oh, I know the best place! Meet me at the creepy park in an hour!" Rika ended the call and Emiya blinked.

 _Master, shouldn't you have told them where that is?_ Emiya asked and Rika shrugged.

"If they can't find it they're worthless and we don't need them." That… wasn't bad actually. Emiya could think of three ways to find it off the top of his head. If their prospective allies couldn't handle it they were seriously lacking in ability. "Seriously though, do you think this outfit is good?" Emiya mentally rolled his eyes before devoting some real attention to his Master's insecurities.

 _The skirt is fine aside from the chance you will show off your panties. If that is your aim, it's perfect. The top is perfectly acceptable._ It was a V neck blouse of a blue that matched the mini-skirt. _I like your necklace, it suits you._ It was heavy gold links with green enameled leaves and bedazzled butterflies perched on them. She had a matching butterfly pin in her hair, along with a blue scrunchy holding her pony-tail in place. Rika beamed.

"Aw thanks! OK, we'll go with this! Hmm, I'll leave right away!" Rika ran down the stairs, limber as a gazelle and Emiya felt absolutely ancient as he followed her. Two teenage girls in a row, how had this happened to him? Although Rika was absolutely nothing like Rin…

"Hi daddy I'm going to play in the park I'll be home before curfew bye!" Rika breezed out without waiting to hear what her father might have to say and Emiya followed close behind. She dashed along the streets without a care, her ponytail bouncing and Emiya kept watch over her. The one thing he wished for was his Archer vision. It was so strange not to have it.

Then they arrived in the park and Emiya felt the familiar malignancy that was the site of the Fuyuki fire. Rika felt it too, from the way her steps slowed and her expression became almost melancholy. Then she stood still, closing her eyes for a moment and breathing out slowly. Emiya's spectral eyes widened as he felt what she was doing.

 _Rika?!_ She was activating her Magic Core. _I don't think this is a good idea!_ What did she think she was doing?

"Hush Shirou, I've done this dozens of times," Rika said calmly and Emiya watched in awe and horror as she pulsed pure prana into the environment. It was a relentlessly positive energy, in keeping with Rika's personality and Emiya was awed to see it was having an effect on the park. A minor, transitory effect but a real one. "No one'll notice, this park eats good vibes like a baby bird on worms. But I'll feel better waiting."

 _I see._ Rika was right that the park was quickly erasing her 'good vibes', but Emiya still felt that the supervisor of Fuyuki should have picked up on this. And dozens of times? Really, what was that idiot DOING? When the environment was… not cleaned, but less oppressive… Rika kicked off her shoes and climbed a tree. Archer watched patiently over her. They were extremely early, it had only been a fifteen minute walk.

Hopefully, their prospective allies would arrive soon.

* * *

"…The creepy park?" Vrishakethu stared at his phone in disbelief as Arjuna elegantly facepalmed. "What kind of direction is that?" He'd had the phone on speaker so Arjuna could hear. He was wondering now if they should reconsider this alliance. "Well, if we can't find it she's too much of an idiot to bother with." Not a bad way to look at it. "I'll google it… oh."

"Master?" Arjuna said as Vrishakethu paused, looking at his phone with a frown.

"Direct hit, that was easy, but that's an interesting story," he said after a moment, scrolling down. After a few minutes of perusal he passed the phone to Arjuna.

 _Fuyuki Central Park. The site of the Fire of Fuyuki, it was never rebuilt and was instead repurposed as a park. It is said to be haunted by the ghosts of those who died in the disaster._

 _The Fire of Fuyuki occurred on…_ Arjuna noted that the date was roughly twenty years ago. _…Over five hundred deaths…_ Arjuna blinked, wondering how a fire had killed so many. His knowledge of the modern era said it should have been nearly impossible, barring an explosion. _…cause never fully explained._

"It must have been magic," Vrishakethu said with a sigh and Arjuna nodded. This did seem suspicious. "The timing would have been right for the Fourth Grail War."

"Ah, is that so?" Warring Servants could certainly have done it. Arjuna handed back the cell phone. "How far is it?" Could they walk or would they need a taxi? Vrishakethu checked the maps.

"It's walking distance but we should start right away," he said and Arjuna nodded.

They walked briskly to the park, not pausing to look at the sights. They still arrived barely within the hour and when they did, the park itself did not gladden their hearts.

"Creepy park is an understatement," Vrishakethu observed and Arjuna grimaced, putting a hand over his face for a moment. "Arjuna, are you okay?"

"I… am adjusting," he said after a moment before lowering his hand. "It is unpleasant." The park was full of negativity to the point that it could affect him on a spiritual level. Arjuna could almost hear the screams and knew that if he dared to empathize with it, open himself in an effort to give these spirits rest, he would be dragged down with them. Nothing could cleanse this place. "Are you well?" Vrishakethu was huddling in his jacket like he was cold.

"My magic is mostly physical so I'm fine. This place is just cold, is all." Ah, he was feeling it as a chill. "But there's something warm over there…?" Arjuna blinked and oriented himself before realizing his Master was right. There was a distinct sensation of warmth radiating from one corner of the park.

They walked in that direction and soon found the girl. She was playing with her cell phone and talking to her disembodied Servant.

"I'm giving them another thirty minutes they might have walked – OH HEY! You're here!" The girl scampered over with a bright smile and Arjuna was suddenly reminded of one of his daughters. Ah, that girl had been a fountain of energy as a child. The thought brought a small smile to his face. "I hope you didn't bring anything to eat because everything here tastes like sadness." HAH! Arjuna let out an involuntary snort as Vrishakethu looked lost.

"Uh, no, we didn't," he said and Arjuna had the distinct feeling his Master had no idea how to handle such a person as this.

"Oh goody, we can go to a café after, my treat! So you've got the Archer class servant and I've got the Caster!" she bounced a little before looking into one particular point in the air. "Why don't you materialize for a moment so they know what you look like?"

"Hmph," the Servant materialized with a small grump and Arjuna kept his expression blank as he looked over a possible future enemy. The man in red was imposing, with leather straps and a jacket that stunk of magic to his senses. His tanned skin and white hair were distinctive but Arjuna could not think of a Caster that matched the description… oh wait, Merlin had possessed white hair. Surely this could not be Merlin? "I would say this is foolish but the park is truly deserted. Greetings, you may call me Shirou." Arjuna was sure that name was utterly fake.

"Shirou? That's a coincidence, there's someone named Shirou already involved in the Grail War," Vrishakethu said and the other Servant lifted a white eyebrow, expression mildly curious. "Before we go into that, though, we need to know why we should ally with you in the first place," Vrishakethu said firmly and Arjuna nodded. The girl pouted.

"Because I'm cute!" …Totally insufficient. Caster put a hand on his forehead.

"Miss, let me handle this," he said and looked directly at Vrishakethu, aquamarine eyes meeting honey brown. "My Master is the offspring of a phantasmal beast and possesses a Magic Core. While she is untrained, I am Caster and I am now granted a nearly limitless fountain of prana. This is an advantage but not one that will help me defeat those with very high magical resistance, such as Saber. So we require allies." Caster – Shirou? – paused for a moment before giving them a hard smile. "However, do not underestimate us. With my Master's power to fuel me I am extremely dangerous."

"And he cooks and cleans like way-oo!" Arjuna felt his lips twitch and manfully suppressed a chuckle as the Servant in red looked martyred. Vrishakethu was staring at them both like they were aliens.

"I am also an excellent sounding board for pre-pubescent lolis – OW!" She'd just kicked him in the shin.

"I am not pre-pubescent! I am totally pubescent! Take that back!" Hmm, no she wasn't, not by Arjuna's standards at least. She appeared to be the same age as Vishakethu, which was roughly twelve or thirteen, physically. He said as much and she glared at him. "I'm fifteen you old fart!" Arjuna lifted an eyebrow at her as Caster facepalmed.

"Miss, are we trying to make friends here? …Leaving that aside, we have told you what we are bringing to the table. What are you bringing to this alliance? I don't want your identity but I want to know that I am not allying myself to weaklings," Caster said firmly and Arjuna glanced at Vrishakethu.

"My Archer is powerful in his class, which is all I will say. As for myself, I am a homunculus," Vrishakethu said in a hard tone and the girl stared at him, seemingly hanging on every word. Arjuna was seeing something interesting here, something he suspected his Master was oblivious to. "I possess the skills of an Executor and I have killed twenty-seven people, as well as five undead."

"Ohmigosh are vampires real?" Rika asked and Arjuna saw Caster wince. Frowning, he reflected on how fine a meal this girl would make for an Undead Apostle. It was not safe for her to be so ignorant. Vrishakethu nodded. "Hey, how old are you? You must be way older than you look!" His Master hesitated a moment before heaving a small sigh.

"I am three years old. I was artificially aged," he said calmly and Arjuna could see an awareness in Caster, almost pity as he looked at the young man. Ah, he understood what that meant. Rika's eyes widened.

"So are you like a clone? A magic clone?" Vrishakethu looked lost and Arjuna wasn't sure what she meant either. Caster cleared his throat.

"Yes, that's very close to accurate. Although judging from what I can sense, he was born naturally," Caster said and Rika chewed her bottom lip before thinking out loud.

"You know, in the Clone Wars movie the clones all aged twice the normal rate. Are you going to die early too?" Arjuna's breath caught at that too accurate guess and Vrishakethu stiffened, a bit of anguish flickering over his face. Rika caught it as well. "You are! That's horrible! And your childhood must have sucked!" Suddenly she was hugging him and Vrishakethu's eyes went wide. "I'm going to make it better! I'll show you everything!"

"Uck… hhn… can't… breathe…!" Vrishakethu was trying to get away and Arjuna considered intervening when he saw his Master's hand move. Shirou stiffened but neither of them was able to intervene before his Master's fingers dug sharply into Rika's wrist, finding a pressure point –

Which did absolutely nothing at all.

"You're going to be my bestest friend ever – huh?" Caster's hand on her shoulder made Rika loosen her grip and Arjuna gently pulled his Master away.

"Miss, I thought you were in martial arts to control your strength. You were crushing that boy," Shirou admonished her and Rika looked shamefaced, playing with her necklace and mumbling apologies. Vrishakethu was staring at her oddly and Arjuna replayed the encounter in his mind. Perhaps his Master had not applied enough force? That seemed extremely unlikely though, Vrishakethu could augment his strength at any moment.

 _Arjuna, her skin suddenly became tougher when I applied pressure to it._ Oh? That was interesting. _Can reinforcement be instinctive?_ He didn't know. _Do you think we should take this alliance?_

 _Yes,_ Arjuna said decisively. _They need our help and have the potential to be extremely useful._ Also, Arjuna thought the girl might be good for his Master, although he was not going to say that.

"We've decided we'll take your alliance," Vrishakethu said decisively before looking at Rika. "If you agree?" Rika bounced a little, looking incredibly cute to Arjuna's eyes.

"Yayness! We totally accept! Let's go to the cafe! Oh but Shirou your clothing is no good, can you make yourself something? I want you to come too!" Make himself something? Caster smiled and held out a hand, dark clothing materializing in his hands. Arjuna blinked at the sight.

"Projection is one of my strongest skills. Please, excuse me," Shirou said politely before beginning to walk away. Then he paused. "Do not let my Master peek."

"HEY! I was so not going to do that!" Rika protested but Caster ignored her, walking away. "…I was totally going to do that," she admitted and Arjuna had to bite his lip. Truly, she reminded him of his daughter, sweet little Pragathi, she'd almost driven him to madness. It was more amusing when Arjuna wasn't the one responsible for it. Vrishakethu was looking at her again like she was the strangest thing he'd ever seen. Arjuna wondered how much experience he had with girls. He suspected it was almost nothing.

Then Caster returned, looking dapper in his charcoal jacket and pants, and they left the park. Arjuna was more than pleased to go.

Despite Rika's positive energy, the Fuyuki Central Park was a very unpleasant place.

* * *

As they went to the café, Emiya felt a bit of tension drain away.

He'd done very well not to betray it but after the casual mention of Shirou, Emiya had badly wanted the alliance. It had suddenly occurred to him that what these two offered was not merely firepower, but the most critical of resources, information. Rika was unplugged from the mystical community and Emiya had no viable contacts. Archer and his Master could be utterly invaluable.

The cafe they went to was a 50's style diner. Emiya's lips quirked as he took in the black and white checkerboard flooring, the bright red bar stools and booths. It was absolutely iconic and as they took a booth, Emiya picked up a laminated card. His lips twitched again as he looked at a menu that was… interesting, to say the least. Someone had taken classic 50's diner food and then repurposed it to the Japanese palate.

"Panko fried chicken over wasabi waffles with chicken wing ice cream… that sounds oddly good," the boy, Vraj, read off the menu. "Do you mind if we get a real meal? I'm hungry."

"Oh no, that's fine, I'm starving!" Not a surprise, Rika was always starving from what he'd observed. "But make sure to try to milkshakes, they're soooo good!" Emiya glanced over that section of the menu and saw some rather amusing flavors. Soda pop? Wasabi?

"I think I would like a root beer float," Emiya mused. He was in the mood for it. And while he was aching to question these two about Emiya Shirou, he did not want to make that obvious. They would get to it in time.

A waitress came and they all placed their orders. Emiya and Archer both passed on the food, getting a root beer float and a vanilla milkshake, respectively. The two children needed sustenance and Vraj ordered the chicken and waffles while Rika got a burger and fries. They both got chocolate milkshakes.

"Perhaps you could tell us a bit about the players in the Grail War? My mistress is untrained and I am of course fairly new here," Emiya said smoothly and Vraj nodded, a bit of white hair flopping over one eye. Emiya noticed Rika staring at the boy with a slight blush on her cheeks and he smiled in amusement.

"I'll do what I can. Remember, though, that everything I know is basically from eavesdropping on my father so it might be incomplete," Vraj warned and Emiya nodded. It would still be better than his own complete lack of knowledge. "Two of the major players are Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin. They're trying to stop the Grail War for some reason, I'm not sure why." He could easily make a guess. "They've been doing this by assassinating magi in an effort to disrupt factions." … "They are both extremely ruthless and care nothing about civilian casualties." …What?

"Can you amplify on that?" Emiya asked, deliberately keeping his expression open and interested. Beneath the table, though, his fists clenched. Vraj looked down at the table and Emiya saw guilt chase across his dark face.

"I… when we first came here, Archer and I were trying to figure out how to get to Fuyuki. He doesn't have Riding skill and I can't drive. We set up a diversion, pretending to take a boat. Instead, we took the train and went on a sight-seeing tour," Vraj said before stopping, staring at the table.

"They destroyed the ship and killed almost everyone aboard," Archer finished the story and Emiya's gaze snapped to him. The other Servant looked at him calmly and he could detect no hint of falsehood. "They seem to believe that the end justifies the means." …!

"I see," Emiya said calmly, rage burning at the back of his mind. Had Emiya Shirou learned _nothing_ from his fate? _The end justifies the means. Sacrifice the few for the many._ That was the very justice he embodied. Then Vraj made it even worse.

"They call him the new Magus Killer. He'll almost certainly be given his father's title," Vraj said and Emiya had to contain his reaction. That was something he had also achieved, in his lifetime. "They have many followers… I wish I knew why so many people want to stop the Grail War. That troubles me," Vraj said, pushing back that errant bit of hair. It immediately flopped over his eye again.

Then the food arrived and they quietly thanked the waitress before digging in. Or rather, the two children dug in. Emiya quietly sipped his root beer float and smiled as Rika ravenously tore through her food, Vraj not far behind. Ah, how long had it been since he'd been so young and hungry? He couldn't imagine. Archer was smiling a bit too, as he sipped his milkshake. As they drank, Emiya debated telling them the truth about the corruption of the Grail. But how could he explain his knowledge? After a bit of reflection he decided to keep it to himself for now.

"Other possible players include the Yggdmillenials. Father wasn't sure who they would field but he thought it might be Laveau. He was a bit concerned because she practices voodoo and it intersects with our abilities," Vraj said when he came up for air. "There were two more possible players I know of but they were both assassinated by Emiya. So that's all I have."

"Hmm, what are your abilites? Can you go into it in more details?" Emiya asked and Vraj hesitated so he gave the child a crooked smile. "I will tell you more about my Caster abilites." They weren't exactly typical of the class. Vraj looked at Archer, who nodded.

"If we are serious about this alliance you should explain the power of your Crest," he said calmly before taking a sip of his milkshake and Emiya's interest sharpened. The boy had a Mage Crest?

"Alright. I was created by the Lupei clan." So Vraj Khatri was a false name. He'd rather thought so. "I have the Crest of Flesh, I took it from my father's corpse," Vraj said and Emiya blinked. Rika just tilted her head, looking innocently curious. "It lets me make familiars – I'm already working on putting together a spy network of them – flesh dolls, self-modification and healing. The self-modification is potent, think of it as incredibly refined reinforcement." Vraj gave him a hard smile. "With that and my own modifications, I am probably on the level of the very best Enforcers."

"He would be capable of engaging a Servant," Archer quietly said and Emiya glanced at him. His eyes were dark and unhappy. "This all comes at the cost of lifespan." Ah. Of course.

"What are your own modifications? Anything special?" Rika asked and Vraj hesitated before pushing down the collar of his shirt a bit, showing the golden marks. "Oh wow, what's that?!"

"Mystical runes. My Origin is Flesh and my element is Fire, these runes allow me to use Fire as easily as breathing," the boy said and Emiya mentally shook his head. That was similar to the command spells that had been carved into Illya and it would help to shorten his life. "That's it. Now tell me about your abilities." Hmm.

"In life, I was not much of a magus. Archer is my preferred class," Emiya said calmly, taking a swig of the root beer float. It really was very good. "As Caster I can create bounded fields and employ minor cantrips. My true abilities, however, are Projection and Reinforcement. I can project numerous Noble Phantasms and I can also shatter them, causing explosions. My Item Crafting is A rank and I can literally create new Mystic Codes, if given enough time and materials. I can reinforce myself and any objects around me, and also mend damage given to them." Emiya paused, thinking about the knowledge that was part of his class. "My one weakness is with those who have very high magical resistance. It is possible for such individuals to reject the very existence of my projections and cause them to evanescence." That wasn't true of the Archer class but Caster had a peculiar weakness, probably to make him a bit more typical of the breed.

"Hm. Then you are not Merlin, I wondered if you might be," Archer said and Emiya almost choked at the thought. "Do you have any ability with enthrallments and memory alterations?" That was an interesting and rather specific question.

"Only minor cantrips. Why?" Emiya asked, a bit on guard. Archer sipped his milkshake before explaining.

"My Master is living in the attic of a building we have broken into. While it is very safe in a sense – it is unlikely Emiya will be able to target us there – it is far from ideal. And if we are to be allies we should combine our forces." Ah. His question made sense now. Emiya thought about it hard for a moment. Could he modify Rika's father enough to make this work?

"Never work. I used to hypnotize daddy all the time to get him to buy me stuff, he got immune to it." …Damnit Rika! Emiya sighed, rubbing his forehead. Rika pushed away her empty plate, giving them all a serious look. "I think I need to run away from home for a while. We should find a totally new place." Emiya froze as an idea came to him.

"Ryuudou temple," he said and they all looked at him. "It's a focus of the leylines of Fuyuki and one of the places the Grail can manifest. We should go there. I might be able to modify the monks' memories to give us a cover story." Rika was looking very dejected though, her shoulders drooping and her head down.

"Um, are you okay?" Vraj asked hesitantly and she lifted her head before giving him a wan smile.

"Just don't want to do this, y'know? I'll write him a letter but daddy's going to be so worried. We have to do something though, I can't keep going to lessons with Sachiko, I need to really concentrate on this. And the house kind of sucks, Caster said so," she said and Emiya grimaced. It was too true, Rika's home was not an ideal territory. "We either tell daddy everything or I have to run away. And if we tell him everything he'll try to get involved and keep me safe and probably get himself killed. I love daddy but he's a klutz."

"Oh, sorry," Vraj said quietly before reaching over to gently touch Rika's hand. Emiya couldn't help a small twitch of his lips. He glanced at Archer, who met his gaze with a small smile. Ah, children. Did Vraj have any idea that he was cementing Rika's interest in him? Emiya doubted it.

"I will see what I can find out about the temple directly while you scout it in incorporeal form. Is that agreeable?" Archer asked and Emiya nodded. It would mean leaving their Masters uncovered but they would have their Command Seals. Speaking of which.

"Rika, if anything happens be sure to summon me with a Command Seal. Do not hesitate," Emiya said firmly. Then he looked at the other Master at the table. "Vraj, use your best judgement." With a Mage Crest and his other skills, Vraj would have to decide for himself if a Command Seal was called for. Archer nodded, seconding his words as he finished his milkshake.

"Mmm, well, I'm done. Want to meet at the creepy park again tomorrow?" Rika asked but Archer frowned.

"Perhaps somewhere else? We don't want to form a pattern," he said and Rika immediately had an alternate suggestion.

"How about Verde? I go there all the time when my lessons are over," she said and Emiya considered it as Vraj pulled out his cell phone.

"Oh, a shopping mall? We'll have to be a bit careful what we say but that should be fine, I don't think Emiya would bomb a mall." Vraj hesitated a moment. "I… well actually he might." Emiya closed his eyes for a moment, feeling his heart hurt. Vraj's uncertainty was completely sincere. "We'll be careful." Vraj nodded resolutely and Emiya nodded back.

"I got the bill!" Rika bounced up to the front counter and pulled a credit card out of her pocket. Emiya was quiet and withdrawn as he followed his Master out of the diner. Would Emiya Shirou actually blow up a mall to kill the young homunculus, or was Vraj just being paranoid? Heroic Spirit Emiya honestly didn't know.

But he feared the worst.


	8. Chapter 8

_I hate my Master more than I can say,_ Assassin mused as she sipped her whisky. She was sitting at a beautiful black bar, tended by a handsome young man with a remarkable ability to mix wonderful drink. Assassin was careful not to look at him too much. Her Master might take offense and the drinks were good. _Truly, I hate him a remarkable amount._ An arm sliding around her waist, a hand fondling her breast, reminded her of that.

Her Master had taken her to this place, a nightclub, to show her off. He swaggered through the doors with her on his arm, confident that everyone around him was jealous of the beauty he had snagged. Assassin knew, with her excellent hearing, that most thought he'd bought and paid for her company. The unkind said she was a prostitute, the kinder only thought her Master must be rich. No one thought he'd earned her on his merits.

That was the only thing amusing about these trips. Assassin did not appreciate being treated like a trophy without even the dignity of a paycheck. Worse yet, these were almost hunting trips. Her Master would often spot someone he didn't like the look of, or someone would offend him – it was only an excuse really – and then Assassin would have a new target. While she did not mind killing innocents, not really, she found the way her Master insisted on a full recounting with all the gory details repugnant. She was starting to make things up just to satisfy him. 'Died instantly without pain' never pleased him.

"What are you thinking?" her Master whispered in her ear and Assassin smiled before lying smoothly.

"How much I do enjoy a good drink." _How much of an idiot I think you are._ That was the other thing. Her Master was really a moron. The new serial killer of Fuyuki was all over the news and they were gaining attention for what? She was no Caster and while she loathed her Master's attentions in bed, he was giving her plenty of mana. There was no need for additional infusions.

Then Assassin stiffened fractionally as she felt a very distinctive signature. Her Presence Concealment was already fully active so she wasn't worried about detection, but another Servant had just entered the bar. Turning her head, she scanned for anything out of place.

And her breath went out in a gasp as a wave of hatred even more intense than what she felt for her Master rolled over her.

 _Blue hair and red eyes and a feral grin as a red spear flashed._

 _"MAN NO!"_

 _He falls, his heart pierced and she screams. Her man is dead and this time he can't come back. Her eyes are full of tears as the man with the spear turns on her._

 _"Sorry woman. I need your heart too."_

Assassin forced the memories back, her mind falling back into alignment. The hate still burned but it was not consuming her and she watched calmly as the blue haired man with the facial tattoos – that was new, those had not been there before – escorted a woman to the bar. The woman was nearly as unusual as the man. Her skin was a gorgeously dark shade, her hair kinky and shaved close to her head. She wore a skin-tight black leather catsuit and matching boots. Instead of a zipper, it was laced in the front like a corset, with bright red lacing. Assassin noticed with interest that she moved easily in it and the boots, while stylish, were not particularly high. This would be practical garb for running and fighting.

Assassin said nothing, sipping her drink and watching the two of them. While it would be… unsatisfying… assassinating the Master would be much easier than the Servant. Almost to her pleasure, though, Assassin soon decided the Master would be a tough target. The body language told her the woman was attracted to her Servant. Assassin could see no interest in her own gender. Also, the woman had a certain wariness about her and was casually scanning the crowd. Looking for the serial killer of Fuyuki? Assassin would not have been the least bit surprised.

The Servant, though, was behaving like a fool. Assassin's eyes narrowed as she saw him flirting with a pretty blonde woman before downing a shot. He showed no signs of wariness and why should he? If he wanted the Servant could tear this bar apart and massacre everyone inside, or so he thought, the arrogant fool. His Master showed no signs of reining him in, sipping her drink quietly and smiling a bit in amusement. Yes, despite the fact that he was a Servant and powerful, he was the easier target. Assassin felt a tingle of utter joy at the thought. How to make it happen though?

 _Master, do you see that man over there?_ Assassin whispered quietly and her Master turned his head.

"Just another muscle head," he said dismissively and Assassin dearly wanted to knock his teeth down his throat. Instead, she began playing to his weaknesses.

 _He's a Servant. The woman beside him is a Master,_ Assassin said with deathly seriousness and felt her Master stiffen. _Isn't he just the kind of man you hate?_ Assassin felt her Master look again and breathed her next words in his ear. "I want to kill him. I want to make him choke on his own blood," that thought made her Master's breath catch in his throat, as she'd known it would. _Use a Command Seal and order me to kill him. Nothing less can destroy a Servant._ How she wanted to do it!

"Assassin, by the power of my Command Spell, kill that Servant," her Master said and Assassin felt utter joy as energy flooded her body. She focused it all on her knife, letting the crystalized essence of the Holy Grail enhance the poison. Assassin felt it jump from a mere C rank to something that could take the life of a Servant. Smiling, she stood and sashayed towards the two at the bar.

Assassin was confident Cu Chulainn would take the bait. The Hound of Ulster would die tonight.

* * *

Later, even Cu Chulainn would admit he did not have a hot clue.

They'd set up shop in a nice little house on the outskirts of town, rented via Airbnb. It was ideal for their purposes, with an excellent basement that lent itself to his Master's work. Cu Chulainn wondered if the property would survive the Grail War, but they absolutely didn't care. Hopefully whoever owned it had insurance.

The first thing they'd done after getting settled in, mystically and physically, was to look for clues to any other Masters and Servants. The big thing that jumped out was the news of a serial killer on the loose in Fuyuki. There was some speculation that he was finding victims in the local nightclubs so they'd gone to check one out. Why not?

"I'm countin' on you, Cu," Belle murmured in his ear as they took their spots at the bar. Cu Chulainn chuckled softly.

"Tch. And if I want to go my own way?" He wanted a woman and this was an excellent place to find one. Laveau hesitated a moment and Cu Chulainn could feel her weighing things in her mind.

"Yeah, you can do that. Might draw somethin' out. But if I have to use a Command Seal an' summon you right in the middle, I'm gonna." HAH! Cu Chulainn entertained himself with the mental image of being forced to abandon sex with a Command Seal. Fighting with an erection was something he did rarely, but it had happened before.

"That's fine, I'll tear them apart," he purred, enjoying the thought. Killing was as good as fucking, in Cu Chulainn's mind. Then a woman was walking towards him and Cu Chulainn saw a beauty that easily rivalled Medb and Aife.

 _Fuck this woman is fine,_ Cu thought to himself as he let his gaze travel over her body. A gorgeous figure, filling out a slinky black dress in all the right ways. Long legs, shown off by a slit in the dress. Her face was the last thing he cared about but it was fine too, with world-weary hazel eyes and auburn curls. Cu Chulainn wondered how old she was. There were no wrinkles on her face but she didn't seem like a girl to him.

"Would you like a drink, pretty lady?" Cu Chulainn offered and she smiled at him. Her lips were full and kissable and Cu Chulainn could easily imagine them wrapped around something of his.

"I would love a drink," she said and the ball was rolling. This particular club had rooms you could rent for an hour at a time – not exactly a high-class place, but who cared – and pretty soon, Cu Chulainn had convinced her to join him in one. Belle let them go, probably relieved that her Servant was getting his itch scratched. Cu Chulainn grinned to himself at the thought. Oh, he could be a pain in the ass if he wanted to and they both knew it.

Cu Chulainn had no patience for drawn out foreplay and to his surprise, the woman didn't seem to either. As soon as they got to the room she was stripping out of her gown and Cu Chulainn paused for a moment to admire her. All creamy skin and pink tips, she was a beautiful woman for certain. Then he was getting rid of his own clothing and that led to an awkward moment.

"Whatever happened?" the woman asked, running a hand up his arm, over the bandages. They were a bit awkward but still better than red spines and blood, Cu Chulainn supposed.

"Nothing important… what's that?" She had something in her hand. The woman looked down at it before holding it up and Cu Chulainn blinked. A hand mirror?

"My sister brought this for some reason. Let me put it on the bed," she said which was weird but Cu Chulainn didn't care. And there was no bed stand so whatever. He pushed her down onto the bed and she went willingly. They kissed and her lips were sweet as honey. She ran a hand through his blue hair before whispering in his ear.

 _"Die dog!"_ Cu Chulainn's eyes flared wide as the dagger pierced his side, the unmistakeable aura of _Servant_ suddenly filling the air. He snarled and resumed his true form and would have torn the bitch apart, but she vanished into the mirror? The hand mirror cracked just as his spines hit the bed, turning the blankets to slashed up garbage.

"…Shit!" Cu Chulainn choked as he felt the bitter coldness going through his veins. The bitch had pierced his heart, which wasn't as bad as it sounded, with Gae Bolg filling his chest. But the poison, that was really fucking bad. _Master, HELP!_ She had healing magics, she could do something. Cu Chulainn felt Belle's surprise and then concern.

 _Cu?!_ Then she was bursting into the room and Cu Chulainn tried hard to stay conscious as she bent over him, but he couldn't. Her face became a darkened swirl as the pain in his heart spiked. Cu Chulainn silently snarled, making a promise to himself.

He was going to get even, not just against that bitch, but the entire Assassin class.

* * *

 _Feeling tired, the nameless man walked through the refugee camp. Once, this had been a stadium. Now tents and campfires filled the athletic field while people slept in the bleachers. A roar caught his attention and pausing, he looked up to see two jet fighters streaking by overhead._

 _He was tired. His joints were creaking with every step, reminding him that time was running out. The person he'd once been was vanishing, sublimated into the whole. Shaking his head, he continued to walk. For as long as he was here, he would share his time with her._

 _He found her by one of the fires, gazing sadly into the embers. Pausing, he looked at her for a moment. She was beautiful still, her face a white oval, dappled with the light of the fire. But regret shadowed her eyes and despair weighed on her shoulders like a shroud. It wasn't her fault that they'd come to this but she blamed herself for it. She had yet to come to terms with the fact that her downfall had been inevitable, a foretold curse._

 _"Woman," he said and she looked up, dark eyes showing a bit of surprise as she saw him. Then she smiled, just a small quirk of the lips and to the man watching her, it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "I have some food, but we must cook it." He offered her the bag in his hand. Rice and lentils, it would make a nourishing gruel._

 _"Thank you," she said as she took the bag. He took a seat beside the fire, joints creaking painfully. Ah, he felt so old. Flexing one hand, he tried to evaluate it. Was it going numb? Yes, a numbness was starting there. Mortal flesh could only contain him for so long. "I don't know why you do these things for me."_

 _"Mmm," he hummed softly, acknowledging without answering. Reaching up, he adjusted his hood. He was wearing a heavy jacket, well suited to the autumn chill. "Just spending my final days with a pretty face," he finally said, knowing it for a lie. Oh, he was dying, he couldn't last more than another year. But he was with her for so much more than that. She shook her head, portioning out the food into a small pot._

 _"I don't know why you bother lying to me. It's not like it matters anymore," she said and he was silent because she was wrong. It did matter and telling the truth would only harm her for no reason. So instead of wounding her soul and making her curse the gods, he watched as she made them supper._

 _Painful as it was, hope could keep her alive. It would be cruel to take it away._

* * *

Shirou glanced at their Servant as he and Rin took the Nameless Soldier around town.

He was wearing street clothes now, an outfit they'd had lying around. It was a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to expose muscular, tanned arms and jeans. The jeans were too tight, threatening to split a seam if he dared to do a squat. Shirou thought the Servant looked like an aging lumberjack.

"This is a pleasant city but there is something that way," the Nameless Soldier pointed in one particular direction. "Something very bad. I can sense it even from here. It calls to me almost like a battlefield, yet also repulses me. Strange." …Oh.

"That's the Fuyuki park. It was the place the Grail manifested in the Fourth Grail War. Over five hundred people were killed," Shirou said quietly, remembering the heat and the pain. "Something like that is what we're trying to prevent."

"I see," Saber said as they walked into Verde. It was afternoon and they'd decided to make this their last stop, to get their Servant some new clothes. Shirou thought those jeans had belonged to him at once point and they were simply too tight.

They quickly discovered that Saber had no interest in shopping and absolutely no sense of style. He just wanted clothing that fit, which made things easy anyway. Rin was the one to decide that the aging lumberjack look was rather good on him and got him more flannel shirts, summer weight ones. Their Servant didn't complain.

When they were almost ready to leave, though, Saber stiffened.

"There is another Servant here," he murmured softly and Shirou wondered who it could be. Rin went very still for a moment. "I can attempt to draw it out, if you wish."

"How?" Rin asked and Shirou picked up a subtle hint of irritation. Saber hadn't mentioned any abilities like that. Saber was silent for a moment before responding.

"I apologize for not mentioning it but it is… mystical and unpredictable, like most of my odd little abilities. Depending on the spirit in question it may be ineffective. If so, however, the spirit will not notice it at all." Saber shrugged, a touch embarrassed. "This is just something I do." So he was saying he hadn't named it, whatever this technique was. "If I am going to do this it should be in a spot with good acoustics." …Huh?

"You're annoyingly mysterious," Rin sighed and Shirou nodded with a frown. Saber didn't like to talk about his powers and it was vexing. The old man actually blushed a little.

"It is just that they are all so pathetic," he said with a sigh and Shirou wondered if that was true or if the Nameless Soldier just had an inferiority complex. He was a Wraith, after all, and often had to fight true Heroic Spirits. "But come, I will show you."

They went back to the centre of the mall, which had an ornamental fountain. Saber liked it and jumped onto the edge before producing a silver flute. Shirou blinked as he seemed to pull it from one of his sleeves. Then the man brought it to his lips and began to play.

Shirou's breath caught in his throat as he listened to the melody. It was slow, sweet and achingly sad. As he listened, Shirou's mind went to the past. The battlefields he'd seen, not during the conflict, but the aftermath. The dead bodies, the trashed buildings, the burnt oil and seared flesh. It was bittersweet, the knowledge of what he'd accomplished competing with the awareness of what had been lost –

"…!" Shirou's breath went out as Rin pinched him, pulling him out of his reverie. Blinking, Shirou realized the entrancement the Nameless Soldier was creating was incredibly seductive. He hadn't even realized he was falling under it. Now that he knew, though, Shirou activated his Mage Circuits and flushed away the influence as he glanced around.

The tune Saber was playing was attracting many people. Mostly older men and women, Shirou wondered how many of them had seen war. There was a smattering of other people, though. A middle-aged man with a scar on his face. A young woman with a haunted expression, holding a crying child who felt nothing. A young man with heavy tattoos and a frown on his face as he listened. And –

"Holy _shit,_ " Shirou breathed and felt Rin's fingers dig into his arm. Glancing at her face, he saw her eyes were wide and her expression shocked as she saw the same thing he had… tanned skin, dead white hair and a familiar charcoal suit.

Archer was completely mesmerized and Shirou briefly considered eliminating the Servant. But that would be stupid. They needed to convince the Servants and Masters not to fight and if anyone would listen, it was Heroic Spirit Emiya. Hopefully he would remember the last Grail War.

"Archer," Rin whispered and Shirou felt a sudden tightness in his chest. The tone in her voice was hard for him to hear. Then he saw what Rin had spotted… silent tears were sliding down Archer's face. The sight made him swallow. What was this melody like for him, with all the weight of sorrows on his soul?

Then a girl was tugging on Archer's arm, looking into his face with a frown.

"Caster, what's wrong?" Wait, Caster? Shirou blinked and looked at the girl. She was a teenager with thick brown hair in a ponytail with a pink scrunchy decorated with wire and bead dragonflies. She was wearing a pink miniskirt and a pink camisole top with black lace. Around her neck was an extremely familiar pendant and Shirou heard Rin's quiet curse. The girl looked around, frowning and her eyes widened as she looked at Saber.

"Oh wow! That's an AMAZING song!" She proclaimed before running towards the Servant. His playing faltered slightly as he regarded her with puzzlement but Saber didn't stop. "I've never heard anything like it before! It's extra extra special! It's – "

 ** _WHAM!_** None of them were expecting the little girl's fist to impact Saber's lower chest nor for it to be so brutally effective. Shirou saw the utter shock on the Nameless Soldier's face just before the Servant landed in the fountain, the flute flying out of his hands. Shirou swore he could hear the stone breaking from the impact.

"ABSOLUTELY EVIL! NOW WHO WANTS A PIECE OF ME?! Huh? WHO WANTS A PIECE OF ME!" The girl yelled, producing a – a plastic wand festooned with glitter? It was shockingly pink and Shirou felt dizzy from the sheer weight of prana the girl was tossing around. What was she doing though? It felt completely unfocused!

"Rika!" Before they could do anything – although Shirou wasn't sure what they should do – Archer was there and was lifting the girl in his arms. He took one look around and honey-brown eyes went wide as he spotted them, then narrowed with hostility.

"Archer – I mean, Caster, wait!" Rin ran towards him, her hand outstretched and Shirou followed close behind. But Caster wasn't listening or just didn't trust them. Instead he vanished with full Servant speed, carrying the girl in his arms. There was nothing they could do to stop him and then he was gone. "Saber!" Rin jumped into the pool and Shirou followed, trying to find their Servant.

Shirou was the one to find him and drag him out, wheezing and choking. The old warrior seemed stunned by what had just occurred.

"Was that… Berserker…? Can't breathe…" he wheezed, clutching his chest and Shirou and Rin exchanged a concerned glance.

"No, that was a Master," Rin said and the Nameless Soldier seemed caught between shock and disbelief. "She hit you that hard?" Rin asked and Shirou bit his lip, remembering the wild prana they had felt. And if Archer was actually Caster… he had a tremendous power supply. The Nameless Soldier coughed, rubbing his lower chest as he straightened.

"She hit me extremely hard. I think roughly my own strength," he said and they exchanged a wide-eyed glance. How could such a thing be possible? "I'm recovering well but I would like to have a lie down, please." Under other circumstances that would have been amusing. Right now, Shirou was just worried.

"Why don't you go to the bathroom and change into some dry clothes?" Rin suggested and Shirou was reminded they had bags of shopping just lying around. Quickly going back, he was relieved to see the clothing hadn't been taken. The other people around the fountain were confused and a bit upset but a few soothing enchantments and the crowd began to disperse. Shirou glanced at the fountain and winced, guiltily aware that it had sprung a leak and there was water beginning to pool on the tiled floor. Someone would have to fix that and it would be expensive. Quickly getting their Servant dried off and reasonably clothed, he and Rin left Verde. As they walked, Shirou reflected on what had occurred.

He hadn't wanted to see Heroic Spirit Emiya again, but it seemed he had no choice.


	9. Chapter 9

"Rika – " Emiya started as soon as they were safely out of Verde and were able to stop. He didn't want to use his speed in public like that but his past self and Rin had left him no choice.

"On it," Rika said, already pulling out her cell phone. She quickly fired off a text, her head bent over the screen. "I just warned them. Let's wait for – ah, cool." Emiya glanced over her shoulder and saw Vraj had texted back an angry face emoticon. Then came a suggestion of meeting at the Fuyuki bridge. "That should be alright, yeah?"

"Yes. I'll make sure we're not followed," Emiya said, confident in his ability to evade any watchers. "Warn them it might take us a while." He needed to be careful. Fortunately, with Vraj's abilities and Archer's eagle eyes, he was sure they would have no difficulties. Rika nodded, texting with the ease of a young girl.

"Okay, all set up. Let's go!" Rika bounced on her feet and Emiya smiled to himself. Could he exhaust her? He didn't know but he was going to try.

The answer was no. Rika kept up with him easily, despite her shorter stride, and showed absolutely no signs of fatigue. Emiya suddenly wondered if this was what a young Arturia had been like. She'd also possessed a Magic Core, after all. Then he felt a chill as he thought of a better analogy… Morgan le Faye. Hadn't the legends said she'd possessed the innocence of a fairy, when she was young?

"We all start out innocent," Emiya murmured to himself although the thought that sweet little Rika could someday be something like Morgan hurt his heart. Suddenly he wondered if sending her to the Clock Tower would be the best thing for her. Ah, but it would be, she simply couldn't go around like this, supposing she survived the Grail War. Hmm, he should concentrate on that. Putting the whole thing out of his mind, Emiya concentrated on evading any watchers.

Fortunately Rin and Shirou hadn't expected them and Emiya detected nothing. They made their way to the bridge, finding Archer and Vraj both waiting for them. Vraj was sitting on one of the concrete blocks and swinging his legs as Archer leaned against the same block, gazing away with a meditative expression. Emiya was sure he was scanning for danger.

"What rotten luck, meeting them there. What happened?" Vraj asked and Rika launched into the story. Emiya let her since he hadn't been entirely conscious for most of it. His mind went briefly back to the haunting sound of the flute and all the memories it had dredged up. Painful, god, it had been so painful. Emiya had to close his eyes for a moment, forcing the feeling away before speaking.

"The song he played would work on any Heroic Spirit who has experienced regrets on the battlefield," he said and saw Archer stiffen, just a touch, a darkness entering his eyes. Ah, it would certainly work on him then. "Some would be immune." Those who were not battle spirits or who had never experienced regret. In other words, psychopaths. Emiya didn't delude himself, he was sure a few very famous heroic spirits had been psychopaths, or close to it. It was good to know that Archer wasn't one of them. Vraj frowned.

"Anyone who hasn't felt regrets after battle would have to be insane," he said and Emiya nodded as Rika looked troubled. "And that explains why Rika didn't feel anything. Well, we'll just have to remember he can do that. Would it be easier to break if you know what's happening?"

"Yes," Emiya said instantly. He'd been thinking about it as they came here. "A very simple entrancement, you would just need to pulse your mana. I think it's most effective on the unwary." He hadn't been expecting anything like it, the melody had caught him off guard. "As for our new territory, I've come up with a plan." He'd been thinking hard about it and formulated something he thought would work.

"Oh?" Archer queried and Emiya began to explain.

"We should move to Ryuudou temple. With the mana that place supplies, I could create a mystical fortress." In fact, with Rika's mystic core and the ley lines, Emiya would have more raw power at his disposal than Medea. Unfortunately, his sub-par Caster skills would be a problem. Still… Emiya smiled nastily. Projecting Excalibur and using it would be possible. "And because of the gate, we can easily guard it."

"The gate? I noticed there was something odd about it," Archer said and Emiya detailed the nature of Ryuudou temple and how unfriendly it was to spirits, unless they entered via the gate. That made Vraj interested.

"I can create some serious familiars to guard the gate. Just flesh dolls, they won't hold out against anything massive but they'll give us lots of warning," he said and to Emiya, that was a very charming thought. He certainly knew nothing of homunculi and familiars. "I can use animals and even plants."

"Plants?" That startled him and Vraj nodded. "Oh, your Origin includes plants?" Emiya wouldn't have thought that Flesh encompassed that but it did make sense. Vraj nodded again.

"I didn't know myself until I got the Lupei Mage Crest. Father never used it but the Crest has spells for advancing plant growth and grafting traits from other plants," Vraj said before rubbing his belly with a frown. Emiya wondered if the Crest was paining him, from what Rin had mentioned that would not be unusual. "I could only do something basic though. Plants take a while."

"Wow, that's cool! But Caster, how are we going to convince the monks not to toss us right out?" Rika said and Emiya smiled at her before turning his smile on Archer.

"The Buddhist religion is quite prevalent in India. I thought that you and your 'son' could be transfers, coming to Japan to learn the ways of Japanese Buddhism." Emiya was Christian so he didn't know if that was really plausible. And it hardly mattered anyway because – "I'll charm everyone into accepting it as legitimate. However, could you write a letter? In Hindi? Something suitably impressive?" No one would be able to read it but that was fine. Ideal, in fact. Archer considered it for a moment before nodding.

"I am not familiar with Buddhism but I can come up with something," he said and Emiya smirked internally. Archer hadn't told him he was Indian, Emiya had just thought it was possible based on appearance and Vraj's name. Now it was confirmed. What Indian hero was he? Arjuna, Rama and Karna were the only ones that came to mind and Emiya didn't know what any of them looked like. He knew that all of them likely qualified for the Archer class. _I am such a weasel,_ Emiya thought, amused at himself. But eventually these two would become enemies.

"Good. Can you have that ready for tomorrow? I'll get started arranging meetings with the monks," Emiya said, knowing exactly who he had to talk to. Good old Issei, it had been so long. Arjuna nodded. "Where should we meet?"

"Huh, how about the skating rink? There's a gym there so it won't even be weird if we stand there and play with our cell phones," Rika said and Emiya felt completely lost. He was comforted to see that Vraj and Archer were similarly blank. "Pokemon Go! Geez! Although I guess I can't expect much, you're all old farts and Vraj is three." …

"Thank you, Rika," Emiya intoned and saw Archer's lips twitch. "Very well, the skating rink. Where is it?" Rika pulled out her phone and quite neatly texted the address to Vraj. His phone buzzed and he pulled it out, confirming. Emiya wished this texting had been a thing when he'd been young. So many problems could have been averted.

Amusing himself with the thought of Rin shooting him a quick text not to be at the school that night – hehe, would he have listened though? – Emiya watched as Rika attempted to flirt with Vraj a bit. The young boy was oblivious, just responding in a friendly manner. Caster glanced at Archer and saw he was watching them both with a small smile on his lips. It seemed the other Heroic Spirit approved.

They finally parted ways and Emiya wondered how it would work out. As far as he could determine, Rika didn't really have a wish for the Grail and Vraj's wish, while self-centred, was quite worthy. Was he willing to give his life for it? Hmm.

He would have to think about that.

* * *

When Cu Chulainn woke up, he was in agonizing pain.

It was familiar pain, the pain of Gae Bolg, the spear that was now his heart as well. But there was more. Gae Bolg itself was pained, his heart was pained, straining to beat and keep him alive. Cu Chulainn gasped and the air seemed to burn, searing his lungs.

"Take this sacrifice," the voice seemed so remote and far away. Something pressed against his lips and Cu Chulainn tasted blood. "We kill to live. Honor the spirits." Strength flowed into him and Cu Chulainn understood. Souls. He was being fed souls.

It was precisely what he needed. Gae Bolg was a demon and souls were its' meat. They flowed into him easily and his heart beat more strongly, responding and healing. The pain dulled a bit, down to a more usual burn and his breathing eased.

"I fucked up," he managed to say and there was a short, pained laugh above him.

"We both fucked up," his Master corrected and Cu Chulainn felt warm hands spreading something cool… ah, the salve. The pain started to ebb a little more. "Never though they'd go after you." Yeah, they'd both assumed an Assassin type would go after the Master. Cu Chulainn was starting to think Assassins were the bane of his existence. "Spirits, take this man's pain…" Cu Chulainn opened his eyes. His vision was blurry but he could make out his Master, using the chant she did to take away his pain.

When Laveau was done and he was feeling almost normal, Cu Chulainn sat up and glanced around. They were in an old, abandoned building, it looked like. Nearby were the corpses of an older man and woman, both rather boring looking, before they'd been killed. They looked to have died in their sleep, from the lack of pain on their faces.

"Didn't like doin' that but it was the only way to save you," Belle said and Cu Chulainn looked at her. Her expression was cold and stern but under it, he could see a bit of regret. "I'm a necromancer so my hands are bloody, but I never like it. Rather use chickens."

"I see." His soft-hearted Master. Evaluating himself, though, Cu Chulainn was sure she'd done the right thing. He'd have died without those souls to mend his heart. "Should we dispose of them somewhere or leave them?" he asked and Belle shook her head.

"Leave them. They'll be found before too long an' it'll get blamed on that serial killer." Yeah, probably. "C'mon, let's go home. Then we need to start huntin'," Belle said and Cu Chulainn slowly grinned, entertaining himself with images of blood.

He'd make that bitch die slowly.

* * *

Late at night, the Nameless Soldier wandered aimlessly.

He was quietly depressed, but that was nothing new. It was his usual state of being. Vaguely, Saber knew he was not being a good Servant. Rin was quite right to complain of his lack of communication. But it was so hard. It brought to mind the story of the nymph Echo. Had she gone completely mute after a while? After all, what point was there in speaking when no one would listen?

Well, his Masters were listening, but the Nameless Soldier knew it would only last the term of the Grail War. After that, he knew exactly what would happen.

 _We summoned a Saber in the war, I remember that, but who was he?_

 _I… don't know… what did he look like?_

 _I can't remember._

That was what it would be like. It was his nature to be forgotten. But the thought pained him and made him disinclined to speak words that were as ephemeral as the wind. The Nameless Soldier sighed, finding a bench to sit on for a moment.

"I'll do the right thing in the end. It's what I do," he murmured to himself, knowing it was true. Ultimately, he always did the right thing, sacrificing for those who would never remember his name. "Ah." Often, the Nameless Soldier wondered what the point was. Why did Wraiths like himself even exist?

Lost in sorrow and sadness, the Nameless Soldier didn't even look up as someone joined him on the bench. He did look up with a start when something poked him in the elbow.

"…?" Beside him on the bench was a beautiful woman with auburn curls, warm brown eyes and a friendly smile. She had poked him with a taiyaki, complete with wrapper. "You want to feed me, woman?" he asked, bemused, as he took the food. She dimpled at him.

"You're usually the one to feed me, man. It seemed kind to return the favor," she said and he enjoyed the sound of her voice. It was different every time but always resonated to him, ringing a bell inside his soul. "So we have been summoned together again." He bit into the taiyaki, nodding as he chewed. The crunchy crust and the sweet bean paste were delicious. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Mmm," he made a soft sound of agreement as he ate. They sat together in silence for a while, as the woman patiently waited for him to finish. As he ate, the Nameless Soldier quietly evaluated her. Even sitting beside him, he could hardly tell she was there. "You are Assassin?" he finally asked, halfway through his taiyaki.

"Mmm hmm," she hummed a soft agreement, reaching up to run her fingers through her curls. "Not my stronger class, but I must make do." Yes, it was without a doubt her weaker aspect, although as an Assassin she was fearsome. The Nameless Soldier made a mental note to have his Master's secure all their mirrors. Hm.

"You wish an alliance?" he asked, relatively sure she did. Assassin knew that he knew her strengths and weaknesses. As Wraiths, they did not forget, could not forget. An advantage since the Nameless Soldier could recognize almost every Heroic Spirit. Vaguely, he realized that was another thing he should have mentioned to his Masters. Maybe he would, later. Or maybe he wouldn't. Talking was just so much effort.

"Mm, no." That surprised him and the Nameless Soldier looked at the woman, the bit of taiyaki still in his hand forgotten. She smiled at him, sweetly but with a melancholy edge. "My Master is a disgusting piece of filth. Would your Master agree to work with someone who kills for nothing but his ego and amusement?" …

"No, she would not," the Nameless Soldier said slowly. "But why would you serve such a man?" He assumed it was a man. He might be wrong. Assassin laughed softly but her eyes had a hard gleam.

"Because I intend to win this war and end a pointless existence that should never have been," she said coldly and the Nameless Soldier swallowed. He knew her nature well and knew that when she was obsessed with a goal, nothing could sway her from it. "I will wish that Wraiths cannot exist."

"…" Could the Grail do that? "I…" Did he want that? To never have been? It was not a concept he'd considered before. "I do not know that I wish this," the Nameless Soldier finally said, unable to fully face the idea. Yes, his existence was a slog of pointless misery but it was still his own. Did he want to lose even that? She leaned close, her lips brushing his cheek for a moment before she breathed in his ear.

"You just haven't thought about it before. Give it time." The Nameless Soldier breathed out slowly, wondering if she was right. Could he come to desire this? Then she was gently cupping his cheek, drawing him into a passionate kiss. The Nameless Soldier savored it, his heart filling with the familiar sensation that only she could bring.

"I love you woman," he whispered as they parted and saw her eyes fill with something raw and painful. But then it faded back into the focused determination that was her hallmark.

"I love you too, man. But I will kill you if you get in my way," she said softly, caressing his cheek. He nuzzled her hand, unable to stop himself. How he loved this woman. "Ah, my Master is calling," she said, rising from the bench. "Farewell, man." The Nameless Soldier watched her go, feeling a deep pain in his heart. He should mention this to his Masters, he knew he should, but he wasn't sure he could bear it.

For good or for ill, he loved the Fallen Woman.

* * *

Settling into the temple went semi-smoothly.

Only semi-smoothly because Issei proved to be completely immune to Caster's sub-standard cantrips and charms. Emiya had anticipated that, though, and managed to get the current Master of the Ryuudou temple alone for a long, heart to heart chat. It wasn't easy at all and required all of his 'charm'… real charm, not fake… but Caster had finally convinced Issei to play along.

That was critical because the Master of Ryuudou temple knew Rika quite well. Apparently, he'd been the one to dispel the poltergeist haunting her home. Which made things a little awkward.

"You will mind your manners, keep your room clean, tend to your chores and absolutely NOT, under any circumstances, summon anything," Issei said coldly to Rika, who seemed genuinely intimidated by him. Caster bit the inside of his lip, struggling not to laugh.

"Yes sir," Rika squeaked out quietly as Issei looked at her suspiciously. Then he shook his head, turning away.

"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this. Keep an eye on her, Shirou," Issei said and Emiya nodded earnestly, pretending to be his old self with all his might. It wasn't hard really, Issei brought him back.

When he was gone, though, Rika immediately reverted to old habits.

"Hey Caster I got a really neat idea," Rika said, pulling his arm and tugging him down so she could speak in his ear. Shirou went with it, wondering if this idea could be anything remotely good. It was probably an attempt to turn her 'magic wand' into the real thing – "It's important to know who the Servants are right? And we know Archer's from India, right?" That caught his attention.

 _We should not speak aloud, Master,_ Shirou said, firmly freeing himself from her grip. Rika pouted a moment before smiling brightly.

 _I guess! But seriously though, what I was thinking is I can just babble in front of him and you can watch Archer's reactions!_ Hmm. Babble about what? _About what I think about his mythology._ …Hehehe… _I've been reading up on it! Who do you think he could be?_

 _He could be Rama, Arjuna or Karna. Perhaps another of the Pandava brothers,_ Caster said instantly, although he doubted it. Arjuna was the greatest Archer of the brothers, after all. Rika suddenly looked puzzled.

 _Who's Karna?_ She asked and Shirou blinked.

 _Arjuna's older brother and his sworn enemy. Arjuna eventually killed him,_ Caster said cautiously, wondering how Rika could have missed such a vitally important person. Rika frowned and pulled out her cell phone, tapping it for a moment.

 _Okay, there is no such person. Seriously, there is not._ Rika offered him the cell phone and Caster took it with a frown. His frown deepened as he read the abridged history. He knew very little of Hindu mythology but he knew Karna was a VERY important figure. To see him completely omitted was strange, to say the least.

"This is abnormal. Karna is supposed to be a central figure of the Mahabharat," Shirou said slowly, scrolling down the entry. "…Ah… Rika, this last part." The story of the Rakshasa. "This should have been him." An abnormal timeline. What had caused the deviation? But then, timelines could be different from each other, Shirou knew that quite well. Still, it was very strange. Rika took back the phone, looking at it in puzzlement. _You should still mention Karna, miss. Say that I mentioned him._ Caster was sure Rika could think of something.

 _Tell me what he was like then,_ Rika requested and Shirou did his best to oblige, telling her everything he knew about Karna. It wasn't a lot, but it was something. _Okay! We have totally got this! You hang around looking all martyred and stuff and it'll be perfect!_ Not difficult, listening to Rika in full hyper child mode gave him a headache. _Let's go!_

They found Vraj and Archer engaged in a quiet game of chess. It became a lot less quiet, though, when Rika found some cushions to flop into and began to talk as she held her cell phone.

"So you guys must be from India with that note you wrote and everything!" Caster leaned against the wall, seeing Archer subtly tense and Vraj's small frown. Well, Rika had to start somehow, hopefully that wouldn't get them on their guard. "I've been reading up on it and man this stuff is weird. And people are such dicks!"

"Huh?" Vraj said as Rika kept tapping away on her phone. Then she spoke rapidly.

"Well, in the story of Rama there was that whole cycle of violence thing before Sita was kidnapped. C'mon, couldn't it have stopped sooner? Jeez," Rika complained mildly and Caster saw no particular reaction in Archer. Hmm, not Rama. "I guess they were all okay aside from that and his step-mom – would you call her that? – really regretted having him exiled when the king died of grief. How do you die of grief anyway? Stop eating?" Still no reaction, definitely not Rama, they could go on Rika. "The real dickishness happened in the other story, Maha… Maharabha? Whatever," Rika said and Archer seemed more amused than upset, now. "Also weird stuff."

"What is weird about it?" Archer asked easily and Caster smirked to himself, sure Rika would get to it.

"What's with Duryodhana and the way he was born? I mean, pots full of ghee? That totally makes NO sense. And why a hundred brothers? Man, how could they have had a hundred kids all at once?" Caster raised a hand to rub his forehead as if Rika was giving him a headache. Instead, he was watching Archer who seemed to be struggling not to laugh. "I mean, seriously, who would want a hundred kids? How could you pay attention to any of them? How could you even remember their NAMES?" Rika flung her arms out histrionically. "I can totally see it! Hey, do I know you? I'm your SON! Oh, sorry. What's your name again?"

"Mmm, I see. And what do you think of the conception of the Pandava brothers?" Archer asked mildly and Rika shrugged slightly.

"That's totally normal compared to pots of butter. I mean, a mantra, immaculate conception, a lot of religions do that, it's WAY better than the clay pots." Vraj had made his move on the chess board and Archer was paying more attention to it than Rika, now. Perhaps this wouldn't work. "They were still dicks though, especially that Bhima guy," Rika said as she tapped her phone and Archer suddenly looked at her, a frown on his lips. Hmm, interesting. "I mean if I'm getting this right didn't he beat up on Duryodhana a lot when they were kids? Although it's never right to try and poison someone because he was a total dick to you as a kid. I mean, tempting but not right."

"… Boys do not handle relationships in the same way as girls. We are more physical," Archer said and Caster felt like they were getting close here. Archer felt the need to defend Bhima, albeit in a mild manner. Hmm, because he didn't entirely approve of his conduct? Well, Emiya could remember some youthful scraps with Shinji. If only he'd turned out better…

"Oh yeah that's true. And Caster says there was this guy named Karna who should have been in the story and Arjuna was kind of a dick to him?" Oh Archer did not like that. "A lot of people were dicks to him because of his caste and I know I'm modern and stuff but that's NOT cool although then he was a dick to that woman, um, Draupti? So I know I'm not reading the full story but I don't think I like ANYONE here." Hehehe. And Caster felt that he'd come to a conclusion. The mention of Draupti, and the flash of sadness on Archer's face, had decided him.

"You can stop now, miss. He's Arjuna," Caster said calmly as Vraj suddenly looked horrified and Archer – Arjuna – gazed at them both with surprise, followed by a quiet deadliness. Ah, he didn't like being tricked. But then, who did?

"Oh yeah, oh yeah! I knew you'd figure it out if I talked enough! Score one for team Caster!" Rika raised her hand and Emiya obliged with a smile, giving her a high five.

"You… you manipulators! We're supposed to be allies, why would you do that?" Vraj asked, his aquamarine eyes flashing as he glared at Rika. Caster wondered if he was just trying to manipulate Rika right back with guilt, or if the young homunculus was as outraged as he seemed. Rika might have said something but Emiya cut in smoothly.

"Because I am also going to give you my true name," he said and everyone in the room stared at him. Emiya had thought hard about this before deciding it was the proper path. "However, you must promise to remain calm."

"Remain… calm?" Vraj asked, confused, and Caster stared at him firmly. "I… promise. But why would you need that?"

"Because I am Heroic Spirit Emiya Shirou," Caster said and the room went completely silent. Even Rika didn't say anything, just staring at him in blank surprise. However, she was the first to recover.

"Wait, the same guy who wants to kill Vraj?" Shirou shrugged slightly before nodding. "…WHA? Caster, you're making this up! You can't be that guy!" Rika protested as Vraj and Arjuna exchanged a glance. Caster was sure they were talking rapidly, via mental communication.

"Unfortunately, I am. However, do not think our goals are remotely similar," Shirou said, speaking to Vraj and Archer. He met Arjuna's eyes, attempting to convey his sincerity. In a battle with Arjuna, Caster wasn't sure who would prevail. He'd prefer to avoid it and keep these two as allies. "My main goal is to prevent my past self from making same mistakes I did." Normally, by killing him, but he'd leave that out for the moment. "Unfortunately, it seems this Emiya Shirou is walking the wrong path."

"What do you mean?" Vraj asked and Shirou sighed internally before divulging more of the truth.

"In life, my goal was to save everyone. Unfortunately, if someone is saved someone else must be lost. I sold my soul to the Counter Force to save a few hundred people from a nuclear disaster and in return, I became the embodiment of this cruel justice," Emiya said briefly before turning away and gazing out the window. "I kill a few hundred, a few thousand, a few hundred thousand, to save many more. I know it is worthwhile but this is not what I want for… myself." He'd come to a kind of peace with his existence as a Counter Guardian but he could not bear to see himself making all the same mistakes and do nothing.

"…Oh. That does sound like him," Vraj said, subdued, and Caster closed his eyes, feeling a deep sadness. It didn't, didn't it. "This is… it's hard to trust you."

"Mmm. You can trust me, ultimately, to do the right thing," Shirou said, feeling a deep sadness at the thought. He'd become hardened and twisted in his service to Gaia but when push came to shove, it always came down to that. He would do the right thing. "And to serve my mistress faithfully," Caster said before smiling at Rika. She smiled back, brightly and firmly.

"I trust you Caster!" Rika leapt up and before he could even think to dodge, Shirou found himself being soundly hugged. "You're my way awesome familiar~" Shirou could only shake his head with a smile, before gently patting Rika on the back.

"Thank you Rika." Her childish enthusiasm was a balm on his soul. Vraj and Arjuna were looking at each other again and Caster wished he could read minds. Then Arjuna looked at him, his expression firm and determined.

"We will trust you for now. But if you betray us, we will destroy you," Archer promised and Caster could easily detect the cold deadliness in those words. Arjuna would be a terrible enemy to have. But he only nodded, accepting the threat.

"I understand," Shirou said, reflecting that he wouldn't betray them… unless it was to save this entire timeline. The thought made his heart twist and he quickly pushed it away. Yet, it couldn't help but worm its way back.

Even now, he couldn't escape his nature.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: To the guest reviewer who keeps asking if I'm still working on this, yes, yes I am. Enjoy!

 _Arjuna, what do you think?_ Vrishakethu asked silently, the game completely forgotten as they looked at each other. Arjuna frowned, thinking about it. _Why is he telling us this now?_

 _Because our enemies know,_ Arjuna replied instantly. That was clear to him. _The secret was nothing but a liability to him._ Arjuna thought about it a moment more. It was taking a chance but… _I think we can trust them, for now at least._ What decided him was Rika. Arjuna did not believe she would be capable of playing them false.

"We will trust you for now," Vrishakethu said, which satisfied Rika. Caster was smiling a little, but sadly. Ah, he was thinking of the ultimate conclusion, when they would have to turn against each other. For a while things were quiet, as he and Vrishakethu played chess. Arjuna steepled his chin in his hands as he considered the board. For a neophyte, his Master was quickly gaining ability with the game. Vaguely, Arjuna wondered if Karna had possessed this skill.

"There is one thing I'm wondering about," Rika said after a while and Caster settled down on the cushions beside her, giving her a questioning look. "Why'd the story have such a crappy end? I mean, all the kids got killed and then everyone dies! That sucks like the Little Mermaid!" …Little Mermaid? "The story of Rama and Sita had a way better end, what's up with that?"

"Well miss, it might be because Rama and Sita are essentially mythological. The Mahabharata might be embellished, but it is something that actually happened," Caster said and Arjuna nodded. He'd lived the events, they had most certainly happened, although modern humans could be forgiven for doubting it. Rika stared at her cell phone for a moment before lowering it and looking at her Servant.

"Shirou, why are we so mean to each other?" That simple question made Arjuna's breath catch in his throat. Looking at Caster he saw the man's shoulder's slump, a great weight of sorrow in his face.

"I don't know Rika. I don't know," he said and Rika suddenly hugged him, resting against Caster's chest. As Arjuna watched, Shirou put a hand on Rika's shoulder, gently cuddling her close.

 _I think we can trust him to look after Rika,_ Vrishakethu said softly and Arjuna nodded. There was a bond forming there, as deep as his with Vrishakethu, in a different way. Arjuna lifted his head as he heard someone approaching – his Archer senses were very keen – and quietly warned everyone before the monk appeared.

"Today, you are to work in the garden," he told them all and Arjuna nodded, resigned. This was part of their cover. Vrishakethu rose with a smile as Rika put away her cell phone. Caster had enchanted her slightly so along with her new, monastic clothing, all the monks except Issei believed she was a boy.

Together, they went to the gardens to pull weeds and check the plants for pests. Arjuna really knew nothing about it – even if he'd known much about gardening, many of the plants were foreign to him – but he understood that anything growing outside of the matching lines was not supposed to be there. In the few cases he had doubts, he asked Caster. He and the other Heroic Spirit tended to the harder work of weeding while Rika and Vrishakethu worked on the pests.

"Ewww, gross!" Rika said and they all glanced over to see her hand was coated in slime. Caster didn't look up from the weeds.

"Learn not to crush them, miss." Arjuna chuckled softly as Vrishakethu shook his head. Rika had a bad habit of crushing the snails when she picked them off the weeds. They all knew she was doing it on purpose, to get rid of them permanently. Vrishakethu tossed them into a bucket and they would eventually be relocated. Where? He wasn't sure. But the monks also used coffee and a strange kind of earth to keep the snails away, so they would be risking their lives to come back.

The pests were removed long before the weeding was done – not too many snails made it past the precautions – so Vrishakethu and Rika joined them in weeding. The weeds were truly endless, the monks removed them with nothing but hands, hoes and hard work.

"I think I like gardening. I need to talk to daddy about getting some planters," Rika mused as they worked. She didn't bother with gloves, her hands impervious to any harm as she casually ripped out the thorniest of weeds. Vrishakethu donned gloves. It was more practical than using reinforcement for such a small thing.

They completed the chore in good time and then, Arjuna and Caster were both asked to help out in the kitchen, making the afternoon meal. Arjuna was not a cook but he was proficient at peeling vegetables and oddly enough, Caster was excellent. He was quickly becoming prominent among the monks for his cooking skills.

Supper was mostly vegetables, light on the fish, since the monks believed that vegetarianism was the ideal spiritual diet. However, the children in particular were given more meat. Issei quite firmly believed they needed it to grow and thrive, something Arjuna agreed with.

After supper, Arjuna settled on the roof of the temple to watch the gate. If anyone was likely to try to breach their defenses, it would be at night. Between Caster's wards and the familiars Vraj had already set to guard, they would have plenty of warning, but Arjuna still intended to greet intruders with arrows.

 _…?_ A flicker of movement caught his eye and Arjuna turned his head before smiling softly. Vrishakethu was working on a new familiar, using a dead songbird that wasn't too badly decayed. Living flesh would have been better, but Vraj hated the thought of harming animals so. Rika was by his side, watching with wide eyes as Vraj reanimated the bird. Caster was also there and Arjuna could almost hear his voice, calmly explaining what Vraj was doing. The other Heroic Spirit had no skill with such things, but he did understand them. Arjuna wished he could watch them longer but he dutifully turned his attention back to the gate.

It was his duty to watch.

* * *

Cu Chulainn grinned as he cleaned off his spear.

"One down." Working together, he and Belle had just taken down Rider and his Master. Rider had been a piss poor example of the class, in Cu's opinion, and his Master had been just as bad. An amateur magus who hardly knew what he was doing, Belle had observed them with her familiars and then killed him with the same. Pretty sad honestly.

"That's the trash out 'o the way. We gotta look at Caster next," Belle said and Cu Chulainn nodded. Everyone could feel that bastard now, pulling gently on the ley lines and funnelling the power to the temple. It was damned obvious where he'd set up shop and Cu Chulainn looked forward to taking him down. "Unless we find that Assassin." Oh FUCK YES.

"If we find that bitch I'm going after her," Cu said and his Master nodded with a thin smile.

"Wouldn't want it any other way." Cu Chulainn was glad they were in agreement. He'd have done it anyway but it was nice to know he had his Master's full support.

They could gut that bitch together.

* * *

 _Theoretically, this Grail War should have been impossible._

 _Shirou and Rin did not know, because the Einzberns' kept their secrets well, but they had given up on the Grail. After the failure of their greatest creation, Ilya, they had turned their attention to other things. So they had not created a new Lesser Grail, leaving the machinery of the Greater Grail to moulder._

 _However, there was another Lesser Grail, still unused. The Greater Grail trembled and spun before spewing out a final Servant._

 _It was horrifying, but that didn't matter. One way or another, this Grail War would find a conclusion._

* * *

Scouting out Caster did not go too well for Cu Chulainn and Belle Laveau.

It didn't go too badly either. Realizing that spirits could only enter via the gate, Belle sent her undead familiars to scout. They got fairly close before one of them was found by another undead familiar. At that point, undead rats and birds began flooding the woods and Laveau pulled back her familiars before she could lose them all.

Cu Chulainn, meanwhile, tried the stairs. He encountered a rather amateurish chimera – Vraj hadn't had the time to properly finish it – which delayed him only a moment. But that moment was more than long enough and then blue arrows rained down.

 _Shit! Cu, pull back!_ Cu Chulainn did that with alacrity, realizing that he was facing an alliance of Caster and Archer.

 _We can't take them here._ Cu Chulainn had a decent magic resistance but he wasn't a Saber. Combine that with Archer, in Caster's territory… this wasn't going to work. _These two are serious players._ This was a potentially deadly alliance, for now anyway. Alliances tended to come apart easily in the Grail Wars.

 _Yeah. Although I wonder who made those chimeras,_ Belle mused as Cu made his way back through the forest, alert to any dangers. _Can't believe it was Caster, they were apprentice work. Must be a Master._

"That so," Cu muttered, staying alert to any dangers as he headed back to his Master. She was tucked away in the home they'd rented, viewing things through his eyes and her familiars. "Well, we'll skip them for now. Next up is Saber." Although again, it would be better to bait him out. They'd already scouted Shirou and Rin a little and lost undead familiars in the process. "Fuckers all like to hide." It was damned annoying. He just wanted a good fight!

 _We'll set some bait, someone will take it._ Belle sounded confident and Cu Chulainn grinned. He thought she was right, there was always someone who couldn't resist.

Soon, he'd have the fight he was craving.

* * *

Scouting out Caster went even worse for Shirou and Rin.

If it had just been his older self, Shirou's plan would have worked. Heroic Spirit Emiya hadn't quite been like Kiritsugu. He'd preferred to use his magic, specialized though it was. And as a Heroic Spirit and a Counter-Guardian, Emiya's abilities with modern technology had mouldered. He could still use it, of course, and he understood it but it was never a first resort.

So the drone strike would have taken Caster by surprise. However, Archer spotted the incoming danger easily and shot down every last one. Rin and Shirou got absolutely nothing but a few blue flashes before thousands of dollars of equipment became nothing but scrap. They didn't realize it was arrows so they achieved less than Cu Chulainn and Laveau. Saber didn't even try to go up the steps. For Arjuna, though, it was quite a busy night. But he didn't mind.

Shooting down drones was an excellent use of his skills.

* * *

The next morning.

"Aw, Archer, why didn't you wake us up? This sounds awesome!" Rika complained over breakfast. It was Japanese omelettes with rice and miso soup. She picked up her cup of soup and blew on it a bit before taking a large swallow. Caster looked mildly pained at the action while Vrishakethu emulated her, to Arjuna's amusement.

"You needed your sleep and I had the situation well in hand. If necessary, I would have called Caster to support me," Arjuna said easily, picking up his chopsticks and taking a piece of the omelet. It was one of Caster's efforts and beautifully made, fluffy and just a touch sweet.

"Indeed, there was no reason to disturb you Miss," Caster supported and Vrishakethu yawned, pushing a bit of hair out of his eyes. It immediately flopped back down as it was wont to do.

"Well, I lost half my familiars and that big chimera I made. I'll have to make another," Vrishakethu said and Arjuna took another bite of omelet as Caster made a face. Arjuna wondered why, he'd had no objection to Vraj's other efforts.

"I suppose you'll need Archer and I to purloin some raw materials?" Caster asked and Arjuna paused in his eating a bit as he realized the other Heroic Spirit was right. For the current crop, Arjuna had helped Vraj harvest corpses. This time, though, if they wanted the children to remain safe, well… but Vrishakethu shook his head.

"No, I'll go with Archer again. I can take care of myself," Vraj said firmly and Arjuna felt rather relieved. Vrishakethu could animate the corpses, in a temporary fashion, and get them to follow. It was vastly preferable to carrying them. Even knowing he wasn't susceptible to illnesses, handling the dead made Arjuna feel dirty. "And it will be a huge time saver. If you and Archer have to carry things by hand it will take at least twice as long."

"Can I help too? Can I can I?" Rika asked and Caster replied very firmly.

"No." Rika looked ready to argue but he continued. "Vraj can show you how he animates corpses at any time. You would only be exposing yourself to danger, miss. We should both remain at the temple."

"Awww." Rika pouted a little but accepted that, to Arjuna's relief. Not that having Rika along would slow them – it wouldn't – but there was no point to it.

The rest of the day, he and Vrishakethu spent doing just that, gathering body parts from various places. Fortunately Vraj knew all the tricks. Arjuna would not have thought of visiting the local dog shelter to take the dogs that had been put down, before their bodies could be incinerated.

"Father did this although he usually took the living ones," Vrishakethu said quietly as the dogs silently followed them back to the temple. "I'll take the shortcut." That was a path through the woods. Arjuna couldn't take it without risking death, thanks to the incredible hostility of the area to unwelcome spirits.

"Yes, that would be wise," Arjuna said, confident that Vraj would be fine. And they didn't need to bring a pack of dogs up the stairs. Dead dogs as well although fortunately, they didn't look very dead.

So Arjuna entered via the gate while Vraj went through the woods. The met with Caster and Rika and Caster directed them where to put the dogs for safe-keeping while they tended to the chores. Soon everything was put away and when the sun began to fall, Vrishakethu would replace his chimera. After that he would begin on collecting more small animals.

Arjuna had a pleasant evening helping in the kitchen. He was a touch surprised when Rika accosted him after supper.

"Um, Arjuna, can you do something for me? I'd ask Caster but I think he'd plotz." Plotz? Arjuna didn't know the word but he got the gist, as Rika twirled her hair in one finger and looked embarrassed. "Can… can you buy me some condoms?" …Ahhhh. She was right, Caster would 'plotz'.

"Certainly," Arjuna said instantly. He found the idea pleasing. To his way of thinking, Rika was eminently suitable for Vrishakethu. She was young, pretty, energetic and while Vrishakethu wasn't aware of it, Arjuna thought he was reciprocating her interest. And condoms were a wonderful invention. Arjuna wished there had been something as convenient when he'd been alive. Rika's eyes went wide. "I will get an assortment of sizes." He had no idea what Vraj would take. Rika squeaked before giving him a relieved smile.

"Oh thank you! You're so cool! I don't know what I'd do without you!" Rika suddenly hugged him, to Arjuna's surprise. But then he smiled and gently hugged her back. Ah, she reminded him of Pragati so much. That one incident… but that boy had been completely unworthy of his daughter. Unlike Vrishakethu. "Thank you!"

"It is nothing. I will do that immediately," Arjuna said easily. He had the time. Although he should change his clothing first, a monk buying so many condoms would be… unusual. Chuckling softly at the thought, Arjuna went to his rooms to don street clothing.

It was an odd errand but he didn't mind it at all.


End file.
